The HyGeen project will no longer form part of the energy giant’s focus on the region.
First reported by Energy Voice, BP has followed last week’s decision to lower capital investment into transitional businesses with a major blow to North East England’s renewables sector and bid to ‘level up’ economically.
A planned large-scale green hydrogen production plant at Teesworks, HyGeen was set to produce 500MW of ‘clean’ electricity once operational. While the decision is undoubtedly bad news for an area of the country in need of economic growth and job creation, BP has maintained that it’s ‘focus is on the significant project’ in the region.
NZT Power, a gas-fired power station on the former site of Redcar steel works, NEP, a joint carbon capture and storage venture by BP, Equinor and Total to reduce emissions from NZT, and H2Teesside, a 1.2GW blue hydrogen scheme, will still go ahead. Collectively, these will create thousands of jobs and add billions to the local economy.
‘We’ve been clear in our recent strategy reset announcement that we’re focused on high-graded projects in hydrogen and carbon capture, prioritizing 5-7 projects for this decade,’ a spokesperson for BP told Energy Voice.
Announced in November 2021, HyGreen was set to create 600 construction jobs and 100 operational roles after going live. At the time, it was dubbed as ‘vital for supporting low-carbon industry and power projects’ in the region. Abandoning the project also deals a blow to Labour’s plans of doubling previous low-carbon hydrogen energy targets to 10GW by 2030. Critics have already pointed to a lack of market readiness for what remains a highly expensive fuel type.
‘We’ve been clear in our recent strategy reset announcement that we’re focused on high-graded projects in hydrogen and carbon capture, prioritizing 5-7 projects for this decade,’ a spokesperson from BP told Energy Voice.
Last week, BP announced it had ‘gone too far too fast’ in its plans for net zero investment. In February the company revealed a 36% slump in profit, to $8.9billion for 2024. Fourth-quarter profits dropped even sharper, by 61% year-on-year. Bonuses for directors have fallen by 45% as a result.
On Teesside, wages are significantly below the UK average of £45,800. In Redcar and Cleveland salaries average at £34,700, rising to £35,800 for Hartlepool, £36,100 in Middlesbrough, and £37,300 in Stockton-On-Tees.
Image: Alexander Tsang / Unsplash
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