Final Negotiations Begin on UK Blue Hydrogen Plant

Essar Energy Transition (EET) has entered final talks with the UK Government on its flagship HPP1 blue hydrogen plant in Ellesmere.

This follows a ‘statement of principles’ with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for the project. Construction is expected to begin later this year, pending a successful final decision.

EET is aiming to create the UK’s leading energy hub 

HPP1 will have an initial production capacity of 350 MW and capture around 600,000 tonnes of carbon a year. The project is the cornerstone of the HyNet cluster.

Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance explained that the project is aiming to provide hydrogen to industrial businesses across the North West of England: “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.

“By moving into final negotiations with the Ellesmere project, we are working to deliver our ambition of up to 10 GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity, in an industry expected to support up to 12,000 jobs by 2030.”

EET was launched in 2023 to drive the creation of the UK’s leading energy transition hub in North West England.

It plans to invest a total of $3.6 billion in developing a range of low-carbon energy transition projects over the next five years, of which $2.4 billion will be invested across its site at Stanlow, between Liverpool and Manchester.

Continuing to protect skilled jobs in the region will be key to supporting the economy 

Tony Fountain, Managing Partner of EET said that scaling hydrogen capacity is essential to decarbonising heavy industries: “This is an important step in our ambitious decarbonisation plan to transform our business and the North West.”

We appreciate the Government’s partnership which will contribute to protecting skilled jobs in the region and ensuring our industries remain competitive.

The project marks the first step in EET’s goal to develop an initial 1 GW of blue hydrogen for the UK market, through Vertex Hydrogen, with a follow-on capacity of 4 GW by 2030. The UK Government is targeting 2 GW of hydrogen capacity by 2025.

Projects like this are key to not only helping the UK to reach its net zero target but to help to support thousands of jobs.