Babcock Wins Net Zero Resource Efficiency Category at MOD Sanctuary Awards

Babcock International have won the Net Zero Resource Efficiency category at this year’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) Sanctuary Awards, which celebrate exceptional sustainability and conservation achievements.

This award recognises the company’s hydrogen derived from wastewater project – a pioneering initiative aimed at developing radical fuel-switching technologies to support the decarbonisation of their Devonport facility and the wider maritime sector.

The project focused on demonstrating the feasibility of producing sustainable hydrogen fuel from contaminated wastewater. A small-scale hydrogen production plant was built to validate the process and assess the cost-effectiveness of scaling up to produce a drop-in hydrogen fuel alternative to HVO diesel. It included the construction of a state-of-the-art demonstrator system for the production, storage, and utilisation of green hydrogen to supply clean energy.

This innovation opens up the potential of a maritime circular economy, where wastewater is transformed into a valuable resource to power dockside infrastructure and maritime vessels. The project not only showcases a viable route to zero-carbon fuel production but also could provide the basis for the future use of hydrogen in dockyard infrastructure.