Partners in the multi-billion pound HyNet hydrogen project close to the Mersey Estuary cancel 28MW wind-powered ‘green hydrogen’ pilot due to lack of Government support. Tony McDonough reports
A project that would have produced 28MW of ‘green hydrogen’ for industrial use with power from wind turbines close to the Mersey Estuary has been shelved.
In November 2022, LBN revealed that a consortium comprising Progressive Energy and Statkraft, also both partners in the multi-billion pound HyNet hydrogen and carbon capture project, would push forward with the green hydrogen pilot.
HyNet is a Government-backed project that will produce so-called ‘blue hydrogen’ by burning natural gas at the Stanlow oil refinery in Ellesmere Port. The CO2 emissions from the process will be captured and stored in depleted gas caverns under Liverpool Bay.
This hydrogen will then be used to power factories across the North West. Ministers have committed £22bn to HyNet, and another similar project in the North East, over a 25-year period with hydrogen production set to begin in late 2027.
However, this method is seen as controversial. Some experts question whether enough of the CO2 will be captured to make it viable. Other critics say it is just a ruse to prolong the use of fossil fuels.
So-called ‘green hydrogen’ is seen as a cleaner alternative. This is produced by running electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar through what is called an electrolyser, separating out the hydrogen in water.
But producing green hydrogen at scale is still some years off. HyNet says the infrastructure it is setting up can pivot to carry green hydrogen at a later date but insists blue hydrogen is viable now.
READ MORE: HyNet hydrogen & CCS… everything you need to know
Progressive Energy and Statkraft were planning to build and operate the green hydrogen facility via their entity Grenian Hydrogen. They hoped it would showcase the potential of HyNet to eventually become a green hydrogen network.
It had planned to use electricity generated by the giant onshore wind turbines in Frodsham, close to the Mersey Estuary, to power the process.
However, LBN has learned that the project has since been shelved. It would have been part of a wider green hydrogen programme with an output of 100MW.
Adam Baddeley, head of project development at Progressive Energy, told LBN: “We stopped development because the project was not selected by Government for a Low Carbon Hydrogen Agreement (LCHA) under the first Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR1).
“Ultimately, we had invested material funds in the project, but without the 15-year Government support contract provided under an LCHA, the business case for the project simply did not stack up.
“We did consider entering the CGH project into HAR2 (for which Grenian has another project shortlisted) but decided that the fundamentals of the project could not be improved and therefore decided to terminate further work.”
A separate Grenian project, a plan to use green hydrogen to power a furnace at the Pilkington glass factory in St Helens is still planned to proceed.
Announced in June 2024, it will see Grenian install an electrolyser at Pilkington’s Greengate plant and have it up and running by 2027.