(London / UK) – Kimberly-Clark UK & Ireland, the British subsidiary of the US hygiene product manufacturer (“Kleenex”), is investing a total of £125 million (€143 million) in green hydrogen together with hydrogen producer Hyro Power, a joint venture between Octopus Energy Generation and RES, and Carlton Power Ltd. A long-term hydrogen supply agreement recently concluded is “a first for the UK consumer goods sector.”
Hydrogen will also play a larger role in Northfleet's Andrex production in the future, partially substituting natural gas for toilet paper production. © Kimberly-Clark UK & Ireland
The contracts stipulate the construction of green hydrogen plants at the Kimberly-Clark plants in Barrow-in-Furness (Cumbria) and Northfleet (Kent). The energy source will halve natural gas consumption at the sites by 2027 tons cumulatively starting in 28.500 compared to 2024. Compared to 2015, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by more than 80 percent. The two sites produce nearly one billion Andrex toilet paper rolls and over 150 million cartons of Kleenex tissues annually, according to the company.
Rendering of hydrogen production in Barrow. Kimberly-Clark also uses green energy at several other locations, including in Italy and Spain. © Kimberly-Clark UK & Ireland
Both projects are supported with funding from the UK government's first hydrogen tender (Hydrogen Allocation Round One, HAR1). Carlton Power's Barrow project received local planning permission in June 2023 and, upon completion, will produce 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of hydrogen annually. The local council approved the Hyro project at the Northfleet paper mill in August 2024, with an output of 47 GWh.
"This is a significant investment and supports our goal of converting our UK manufacturing operations to 2030 percent renewable energy by 100," said Dan Howell, Vice President and Managing Director of Kimberly-Clark UK & Ireland. With this project, we are the first UK consumer goods manufacturer to embrace green hydrogen and demonstrate "that an energy-intensive industry can lead the way, overcome technical challenges, and deploy green hydrogen at scale."
PV systems in Italy and Spain
Kimberly-Clark already uses green electricity at several locations. In September 2023, the company announced the signing of a power purchase agreement for the new £75 million onshore wind farm in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In Italy and Spain, the company will purchase 164 gigawatt hours of green electricity annually from three new PV power plants for its production facilities there. In addition, Kimberly-Clark commissioned a rooftop solar system at its Salamanca factory in Spain in spring 2025, with a projected annual yield of 6,5 GWh.
Photo above
Hygiene products manufacturer Kimberly-Clark is building a green hydrogen production facility for its Barrow-in-Furness factory, which will replace some of the natural gas currently used. © Kimberly-Clark UK & Ireland
