Plans by EET Hydrogen for the first large scale, low carbon hydrogen production plant (HPP1) in the UK in Ellesmere Port have been given the green light by Cheshire West & Chester Council.

Consisting of two plants (HPP1 and HPP2), the hydrogen hub 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.

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 over 4,000MW by 2030.

The development is a key pillar of HyNet – the UK’s industrial decarbonisation cluster. Construction is anticipated to start on HPP1 in 2024 with low carbon hydrogen produced at the site by 2027.

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