Cheshire West & 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.

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.

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

EET will develop the hydrogen hub in phases with the first plant (HPP1) at 350MW capacity, the second (HPP2) at 1,000MW capacity and an overall target capacity of 4,000MW+ 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.

Richard Holden, HPP1 Project Manager at EET Hydrogen, 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.”

About Essar in the UK

Essar Oil (UK) Ltd is committed to playing a key role in the decarbonisation of the UK economy, with ambitious plans to build an energy transition cluster in the North West of England.

Essar Oil (UK) is transforming for tomorrow and is committed to becoming the UK’s first low-carbon refinery at the heart of HyNet, the UK’s leading industrial decarbonisation cluster. It is investing $1 billion over the next five years to decarbonise its operations and targeting a 95% cut in emissions by 2030 through energy efficiency, carbon capture and fuel switching. This will deliver 12.5% reduction the North West’s overall regional carbon emissions.

Industrial carbon capture will deliver an annual emissions reduction of ~1 million tons of CO2 and hydrogen fuel switching from natural gas to EET Hydrogen low carbon hydrogen as a fuel source will deliver an additional annual emissions reduction of ~1 million tons of CO2

About EET Hydrogen

EET Hydrogen is a leading player in the energy transition and is developing the first large scale, low carbon hydrogen production hub in the UK. This will produce (in its initial phases) 1.35GW of hydrogen capacity (more than enough to power a city like Liverpool) and capture some 2.5 million tonnes of carbon per annum (equivalent to taking 1.1 million cars off the roads).

By 2030, EET Hydrogen expects to deliver nearly 4GW of low carbon hydrogen – 40% of the UK Government’s target. The organisation is investing an expected £1bn in the UK’s largest industrial region (the North-West) to enable businesses to switch from fossil fuels to low carbon energy, helping to secure and grow vital industries and jobs and unlocking billions of pounds of related investment.

An integral part of HyNet, one of two UK Government’s Track 1 clusters for industrial decarbonisation, EET Hydrogen’s HPP1 plant was selected to progress as one of two initial large scale low carbon hydrogen production plants.