Tees Green Hydrogen will use power from both an existing wind farm and a new solar farm. Image: EDF.
EDF Renewables is looking to develop a 49.9MW solar farm to power a new green hydrogen production facility in Teesside.
Working together with Hynamics, a subsidiary of the EDF Group specialising in hydrogen, the companies are planning to develop a 30-50MW electrolyser, which will subsequently be scaled to over 500MW in line with emerging demand.
The green hydrogen will be used by local industries to decarbonise their operations, and was announced in Teesside with British Steel Lackenby and PD Ports.
EDF and Hynamics have signed an arrangement with PD Ports for the delivery of green hydrogen already.
Tees Green Hydrogen will utilise both power from the nearby Teesside Offshore Wind Farm and the new solar site, which will be constructed near Redcar. A consultation for the solar farm is set to take place later in March.
“Tees Green Hydrogen is a ground-breaking project, which will utilise locally produced green electricity to create the means to decarbonise local industry and safeguard its operation for many years to come, well beyond Net Zero 2050. In the current world climate the importance of locally produced renewable power cannot be underestimated,” said Tristan Zipfel, director of strategy and analysis at EDF Renewables UK.
The new solar farm is the latest in a string of 50MW sites EDF Renewables is eying. This includes submitting a planning application for the Bloy’s Grove solar farm in November and for the Tye Lane solar farm in August and opening a public consultation for its East Stour solar farm in July and for the Cadenham solar farm in June.
It also received planning permission for the 49.9MW Sutton Bridge development in March 2021. Additionally, EDF Renewables has acquired the 49.9MW Burwell solar farm from AGR and the 49.9MW Porth Wen project from Countryside Renewables.
A number of companies are eying green hydrogen developments in Teesside, as carbon intensive industries look for pathways to decarbonisation. This includes Protium unveiling a 40MW green hydrogen project in October and bp a 500MWe green hydrogen project in the area in November.