Public Notice: H2Teesside Project Regulation 8

An application for a development consent order (the ‘DCO Application’) under section 37 of the Planning Act 2008 was submitted by H2 Teesside Limited (the “Applicant”) whose registered office is Chertsey Road, Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex, TW16 7BP, to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero under delegated power c/o the Planning Inspectorate on 25 March 2024 and was accepted on 22 April 2024. The DCO Application relates to the H2Teesside Project (the “Proposed Development”). The reference number applied to the DCO Application is EN070009. The DCO Application is now being examined by a panel of inspectors (‘the Examining Authority’) appointed by the Secretary of State.

Notice is hereby given that the Applicant has made an application (the ‘Change Application’) to amend the DCO Application as made, including a change to the areas of land which would be subject to compulsory acquisition.

Summary of the Application

The Proposed Development will be one of the UK’s largest blue hydrogen production facilities with a capacity of approximately 1.2 gigawatts (‘GW’) thermal, representing more than 10% of the Government’s hydrogen production target of 10 GW by 2030. This equates to the production of approximately 160,000 tonnes of low carbon hydrogen per annum, with approximately two million tonnes of carbon dioxide being captured and stored each year.

The Proposed Development comprises the following main elements: the Hydrogen Production Facility, including two carbon capture enabled hydrogen units each of 600 megawatts thermal (it is envisaged that the hydrogen production facility will be constructed in two phases); a natural gas supply connection; electrical connection works; water supply connection works; wastewater disposal works; a hydrogen distribution network; a high pressure carbon dioxide export pipeline; gas (oxygen and nitrogen) connections; temporary construction and laydown areas and contractor compounds; access and highways improvement works; and replacement land.

The Hydrogen Production Facility (also referred to as the ‘Main Site’), including its carbon capture and compression facilities, will be located on part of the Foundry, which forms part of Teesworks, within the borough of Redcar and Cleveland. Teesworks is a major brownfield industrial site and Freeport, part of which was formerly occupied by the Redcar Steel Works. The connections corridors include land within the boroughs of Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool.

If granted, the DCO would authorise the compulsory acquisition of land, interest in land and rights and the powers to use permanently and temporarily for the construction, operation and maintenance of the scheme. The DCO would make provisions in connection with several ancillary matters including the temporary stopping up of lengths of existing highways in the vicinity of the route.

Changes to the Application

The Applicant has recently consulted on a number of changes to the DCO Application. The changes proposed reflect further engineering and design development of the Proposed Development, changes to construction approach and techniques and reductions in the Order Limits (from approximately 507 to 406.9 hectares). They also seek to respond to comments received from interested parties, deliver improvements to the Proposed Development, seek rights over an existing gas pipeline, remove optionality, and reduce its overall impacts. The application for those changes to the DCO Application (the Change Application) has now been submitted to the Examining Authority.

Proposed Provision of Additional Land

One of the changes relates to the proposed provision of additional land to facilitate the inclusion of an existing natural gas pipeline within the Order Limits of the DCO Application. This change will also involve new types of rights being imposed within the current Order Limits of the DCO Application to facilitate re-use of that pipeline where it is already within the Order Limits.

This change is required as the Applicant is looking to utilise this existing natural gas pipeline to import its natural gas. This natural gas pipeline is currently mothballed and plans are in place to bring it back into service. The pipeline will be classified as an independent gas delivery network meaning that each of the users will need to secure their own relevant land rights to legally enable the import of natural gas. The proposed provision of additional land will secure these rights.

This notice relates to a consultation on this proposed provision of additional land following the submission of documentation by the Applicant to the Examining Authority to support its Change Application for that proposed provision.

Copies of Application Documents

In respect of the proposed provision of additional land, a plan showing the additional land, copies of the supplementary Land Plans, supplementary Statement of Reasons, updated Book of Reference, amended Development Consent Order, Explanatory Memorandum, and the other documents submitted with the Change Application and the proposed provision of additional land are available to view online for free of charge on the Planning Inspectorate’s webpages. These documents demonstrate that the proposed provision of additional land is able to be funded by the Applicant.

The Proposed Development’s Project Page on the Planning Inspectorate website can be found here: https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN070009

These documents will be available on the above website via the Document tab until 29 November 2024 and onwards throughout the Examining Authority’s examination of the DCO Application.

The documents listed above can be viewed electronically, free of charge, at the electronic deposit locations listed in the table below until the 29 November 2024.