Essar’s UK hydrogen production facility gets green light

Essar Energy Transition (EET) on Thursday said that its plans for setting up a low carbon hydrogen production facility in the UK has been given the green light.

“Cheshire West and Chester Council has approved groundbreaking plans by EET Hydrogen for the first large scale, low carbon hydrogen production plant (HPP1) in the UK located at the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire,” the company said.

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Consisting of two plants (HPP1 and HPP2), the hydrogen hub will enable local industrial and power generation businesses to switch from fossil fuels to low carbon energy. This will help to reduce the North West’s carbon emissions by 2.5 million tonnes every year – the equivalent of taking 1.1 million cars off the roads, it added.

The hydrogen will be used locally by the Essar refinery and other major manufacturers in the region, including Tata Chemicals, Encirc and Pilkington to create the first low carbon refining operations, glass and chemicals manufacturing sites in the world.

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The EET Hydrogen hub will help to secure and grow vital industries, create jobs and unlock billions of pounds of related investment.

EET Hydrogen HPP1 Project Manager Richard Holden said, “This is the largest low carbon hydrogen project in the UK and one of the most advanced in the world. It is a vital piece of the North West’s journey to net zero, underpinning HyNet and providing the opportunity for manufacturers in the region to decarbonise their processes and support UK jobs. We have worked closely with regional stakeholders and are delighted to obtain this important approval for the project as we move from ambition to action.”

EET will develop the hydrogen hub in phases with the first plant (HPP1) at 350 MW capacity, the second (HPP2) at 1,000 MW capacity and an overall target capacity of more than 4,000 megawatt (MW) by 2030. These plants are critical to meet the UK’s hydrogen and industrial decarbonisation targets and enable the critical hydrogen infrastructure.

The development is a key pillar of HyNet – the UK’s leading industrial decarbonisation cluster. Construction is anticipated to start on HPP1 in 2024 with low carbon hydrogen produced at the site by 2027.

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