Teesside leading on hydrogen energy as major Government investment moves closer

The Tees Valley’s position as one of the UK’s leaders on hydrogen energy has been recognised in the wake of major local projects being allowed to bid for money from a £1bn government fund.

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) says two proposed blue hydrogen projects on Teesside would be eligible for the Carbon Capture Usage and Storage Cluster (CCUS) Sequencing Process.

Two large-scale, Tees Valley-based blue hydrogen projects are among the projects now eligible to receive support from the government’s £1bn CCS Infrastructure Fund (CIF).

The two projects who can bid for support from the £1bn CCS Infrastructure Fund (CIF) are Kellas Midstream’s H2NorthEast development and BP’s H2Teesside, which are part of The Northern Endurance Partnership’s East Coast Cluster (NEPIC).

With a number of green hydrogen projects already underway in the Tees Valley area and the UK’s largest independently owned hydrogen production plant, owned by BOC, also located locally, the Tees Valley now leads the rest of the country in hydrogen power development and its role looks set to become even more important in the energy industry

Philip Aldridge, CEO at NEPIC, said: “The BEIS Phase-2 announcement is excellent news for our region and really cements Teesside as the hydrogen hub of the UK and a global ‘Super Place’ for hydrogen.

“Almost half of the UK’s Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) projects are based in Tees Valley, which demonstrates our commitment to lead on CCUS initiatives.

“Not only will this create thousands of jobs and attract investment across the local landscape, but this is also a huge step in the future distribution of low-carbon power that will be essential to the long-term sustainability of many businesses throughout the area.”

Chris Holt, clean growth manager at NEPIC, added: “The Cluster Sequencing announcement highlights how clean growth is delivering for Teesside in an unprecedented way and will provide exciting opportunities across our membership of over 300 companies.

“The news is timed perfectly to coincide with our Clean Growth Conference (on Tuesday, September 20), where attendees will have the opportunity to hear from BOC, Sembcorp Energy UK and Kellas Midstream, all of which were successful in the BEIS Phase-2 Cluster Sequencing Process.”