A hydrogen project in the north of England has been granted planning permission by the region’s local council as the UK Government looks to further boost production of the fuel as part of net-zero plans.
Norwegian oil major Equinor is overseeing plans for the H2H Saltend project in the UK’s industrial Humber region in the northern county of Yorkshire. A planning application was submitted by the company to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council in July last year.
Project director Derek Ho called the planning approval “an important first step” in the decarbonisation of the Humber. He added: “This decision comes at a very opportune moment, as we await the launch of the government’s next phase of the Cluster Sequencing process for the Humber, and it puts H2H Saltend in a strong position, should we submit a bid.”
The project will include a 600MW blue hydrogen production plant and a carbon capture facility. The hydrogen produced at the site will be made from fossil natural gas, a polluting process, with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology used to remove emissions.
It will be built at the existing energy park in the Humber, which is one of the most polluting regions in the UK due to dense areas of industrial activity.
Anne Handley, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “This is an important decision not only for this project but also for this region. We welcome major energy projects from global companies like Equinor, which help to demonstrate the ability of our area to attract investment, leading to more jobs, supply chain contracts and opportunities for local people. We should be proud that East Yorkshire can be a leading light in the transition to a net-zero economy.”
The UK has begun to ramp up approvals for hydrogen projects as a key way to meet net-zero targets, with other major projects also being greenlit this month.
However, the focus on blue hydrogen in the government’s decarbonisation plans has been criticised by academics and campaign groups, labelled as greenwashing, principally because CCS is not yet commercially reliable and because a genuinely clean alternative – green hydrogen made from renewable electricity sources – is also available but generally disfavoured due to higher costs.
