Plans for a hydrogen and carbon capture plant which could create thousands of jobs have been approved for a site at Salt End.
Equinor, an energy company based in Norway, is behind the plans for "H2H Saltend". The idea is to cut emissions at the Saltend Chemicals Park by up to a third – the equivalent of taking around 500,000 cars off the road.
The plant is being described as "one of the UK’s key decarbonisation projects". It is understood that work could begin between 2026-30 and, once operational, around 2,200 jobs could be created.
Derek Ho, the project director for H2H Saltend, said: "We are delighted to receive planning permission for this key project, which could help to kick-start multiple decarbonisation initiatives in the Humber. It is an important first step in creating a low-carbon hydrogen economy and achieving net zero in the Humber, safeguarding local industries and creating greater opportunities including new jobs and skills, whilst helping the UK to tackle climate change."
How will the plant work?
Equinor said the site would be one of the first of its kind, on this scale, to be approved in the UK. The council granted permission under delegated powers outside the normal planning process.
The plans envisage building a 600-megawatt, low-carbon hydrogen plant at Saltend Chemicals Park. Low-carbon hydrogen would be used in chemical processes by companies based at Saltend and nearby. It would also directly replace natural gas in a number of industrial facilities, reducing the carbon intensity of their products.
The site would also include a carbon capture and storage facility. Almost 900,000 tonnes of CO2 would also be captured and sent for storage below the North Sea, equivalent to taking around half a million cars off the road.
The Humber region produces about 12.4m tonnes of CO2 every year. Saltend Chemicals Park produces roughly the same amount of emissions as the whole of Merseyside, and Equinor estimates that the H2H project would help cut emissions here by up to a third.
What happens next?
H2H Saltend could also form part of an "East Coast Cluster" carbon capture transport and storage network. Operators such as Equinor will soon be able to bid to be a part of this cluster.
Pipelines would run from Easington in the East Riding and across northern Lincolnshire, including to a carbon capture power station at Keadby, which was approved in 2022. Pipelines would also run to Drax power station, near Selby, and transfer CO2 out for sub-sea storage. Equinor says these proposals could make the Humber, the UK’s most carbon-intensive industrial region, net-zero by 2040.
