Plans to build “a ground-breaking new hydrogen fuelling station” on the Northern Gas Network (NGN) Birkshall gas storage site in Bradford have been submitted to Bradford Council.
Clean energy pioneers Hygen and N-Gen are working in partnership to deliver the Bradford Low Carbon Hydrogen (BLCH) production facility, which could achieve the decarbonisation equivalent of removing 800 diesel-fuelled buses a day from West Yorkshire roads.
The development will deliver one of the UK’s largest low carbon hydrogen production facilities with the aim of using renewable energy to produce hydrogen.
The hydrogen refuelling facility would serve hydrogen fuel cell vehicles such as cars and buses and also tube trailers for onward transport to more distant end users. Distribution expert Ryze would deliver hydrogen to industrial users across the region.
The project has been awarded government funds under the Hydrogen Production Business Model/Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.
Jamie Burns, director of Hygen, said: “This project will not just produce low carbon hydrogen for Bradford and the surrounding area, but will also provide a blueprint for how complex projects like this can be delivered, boosting the hydrogen and green economies of the UK. We very much hope that this project will be replicated in other cities across the UK to provide low carbon energy for generations to come.”
Gareth Mills, managing director at N-Gen, said: “This is an important and exciting project, not just for Bradford, but also for the wider area and the community that lives here, so we are delighted to now have financial backing from government to allow us to start work on the site.
“Bradford Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and we believe this facility will play an important role in helping the area deliver on its climate change ambitions.
“We know hydrogen can support decarbonising all energy types including transport, and producing green hydrogen is central to this, so we’re really excited to work with Hygen to deliver this development.”
This project could be worth £900m to Bradford and create over 9,000 high-quality jobs by 2030.
