Plug pulled on pipeline for controversial hydrogen scheme
Plans for a gas pipeline forming part of a massive and controversial hydrogen energy scheme have been withdrawn.
An application had been submitted to Cheshire West and Chester Council in 2023 for the installation of a 4km underground natural gas pipeline to supply Stanlow Manufacturing Complex (SMC).
The plans were part of the HyNet carbon capture and hydrogen energy project which aims to produce and distribute hydrogen for use by industry as a low carbon alternative to fossil fuels.
The hydrogen energy production process requires a supply of natural gas, but plans for a pipeline to deliver a supplementary supply of natural gas to the production site have now been withdrawn.
When asked, the firm did not go into detail on the reasons for the withdrawal, but a spokesman said it was due to a need to ‘re-route the pipeline’ due to ‘land constraints’. They added it was ‘simply a modification’ of the planning route involved in the submission.
The original planned route would have seen the pipeline run between land south of Chester Road near Hapsford and the SMC in Ellesmere Port.
The wider HyNet scheme involves multiple sites around the North West and North Wales and has elements of hydrogen production along with carbon capture and storage. Backers say it offers a cleaner solution to the use of fossil fuels.
But it has also attracted controversy, with critics pointing to it being a ‘blue hydrogen’ project rather than ‘green hydrogen’, due to the fact it still relies in part on the use of fossil fuels. Green hydrogen uses completely renewable sources.
Other HyNet sites include the Viridor Runcorn Industrial CCS plant. The project also involves infrastructure such as the HyNet North West Hydrogen Pipeline and a carbon dioxide pipeline to a storage site in Liverpool Bay.
The firm did not respond to requests for additional comment.
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Plug pulled on pipeline for controversial hydrogen scheme, source
