Essar Energy Transition (EET) and the UK Government have agreed on a statement of principles concerning a new low-carbon hydrogen plant. The agreement was specifically made between the UK Government’s Depart for Energy Security and Net Zero and it was for the new HPP1 low-carbon hydrogen plant.

This agreement, marked by the signing of this statement, showcases an important step in the creation of this project, which has been under development and going through negotiations for a considerable amount of time. The project has stayed between EET Hydrogen and the UK Government and now it will finally pass into final negotiations. Now that the agreement has been made and the project can pass into this final stage, both parties aim to make a final decision on the project at some point in 2024.

This project is very important and it is clear why EET has continued to push for the Government’s agreement on it, as HPP1 will have an initial production capacity of 350MW. This initial capacity, means that it is the largest low-carbon hydrogen plant based within the UK and furthermore, this initial capacity, indicates that the new plant will have the ability to capture an estimated 600,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. This is an excellent capacity, as removing this much carbon would equate to removing about 250,00 cars from the road.

As well as capturing carbon, the plant will also produce blue hydrogen, which will make this plant useful to industrial businesses that are located throughout the North West of England. The plant will become useful to these businesses in particular, as the plant will enable them to decarbonise their operations. This ability to decarbonise their operations, will also make it possible for them to continue operations without damaging the environment further. Consequently, this will help them to protect their workers’ jobs and continue to drive economic growth. The other important part of this project is that it will be the starting point for the HyNet cluster, so it is essential that this part is ready, in order for the wider project to commence during 2024. The companies have expressed the importance of this project, as it will be a very significant step towards their overall aim of developing 4GW of low carbon hydrogen by 2030.

CEO of EET Hydrogen, Joe Seifert, commented, “This is a critical milestone for EET Hydrogen and the hydrogen sector in the UK. We are very proud to be leading the way and look forward to starting construction later this year.”  

Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance said, Lord Callanan, commented, “We have already halved our emissions from 1990 levels, and hydrogen will play a vital role in the UK’s journey towards net zero by providing businesses large and small with cleaner energy in the future."