Plans Revealed for £40M Hydrogen Plant in Wigan

The Kraft Heinz Company has signed an agreement with a UK energy infrastructure development company to study the development of a green hydrogen plant at its Wigan manufacturing site.

Kitt Green in Wigan is one of the largest food processing plants in Europe and one of the largest Kraft Heinz facilities in the world. It produces a quarter of a million tons of food annually and employs approximately 850 people.

The business is partnering with Carlton Power on the proposed 20 MW Kitt Green hydrogen plant, which will meet more than 50 per cent of the Wigan plant‘s annual natural gas demand and reduce its carbon emissions by 16000T/yr.

The plant could be operational in 2026

Eric Adams, Hydrogen Projects Director at Carlton Power, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Kraft Heinz to bring forward a green hydrogen facility at Kitt Green to help the company accelerate its efforts to decarbonise their operations.

“It is critical that projects like this are brought forward to support British companies, especially in manufacturing, in reducing their carbon emissions and reaching net zero.”

The scheme is still subject to planning approval and financing, with Kraft Heinz projecting it to enter operation in 2026.

Its construction is contingent on securing financial support from the UK Government’s second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2) of the Hydrogen Production Business Model (HPBM).

Projects like this are key to reaching net zero by 2050

Over the next 12 to 18 months, Kraft Heinz and Carlton Power will work together to gain planning permission for the project and obtain grant funding and operational financial support from the UK Department of Energy Supply and Net Zero (DESNZ).

Jojo Lins De Noronha, President, Northern Europe, The Kraft Heinz Company, added: “Our agreement with Carlton Power is an important step forward in our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and achieve our global goal of net zero emissions by 2050, with a 50 percent reduction in emissions by 2030.”

We’re excited to partner together to develop our first, renewable hydrogen energy project globally and hope to see more projects like these in the future.

Projects like this one are key to supporting the UK on its journey to net zero and helping to decarbonise the manufacturing industry.