BP hydrogen and carbon capture project withdrawn in Teesside
H2 Teesside Limited has withdrawn its application for development consent.
The project aimed to be one of the largest blue hydrogen production facilities in the UK.
A hydrogen production plant of up to 1,200MW thermal capacity, hydrogen distribution pipelines, an air separation unit or oxygen supply pipeline, carbon dioxide capture and compression facilities, and a connection to the Northern Endurance Partnership infrastructure (Net Zero Teesside), were to be part of the wider project.
It was targeting 1.2GW of hydrogen production – equating to over 10% of the UK Government’s hydrogen target of 10GW by 2030.
The project also aimed to displace natural gas consumption by industrial emitters in Teesside, while capturing and sending for secure long-term storage approximately 2Mt of CO₂ per year.
The application was initially received on 25 March 2024, before going into numerous stages of application concluding in this recent withdrawal on 1 December 2025.
The formal letter to the Secretary of State withdrawing the application states the decision is ‘based on material and significant changes in circumstances in respect to options for the development of the Teesworks site, compared to the position at the time of submission of the H2T DCO application and at the start of the examination.
'There is now an intention to bring forward a data centre, which has resulted in a conflict over the same land as H2T.
'While we maintain that a solution which enabled co-existence of both H2T and the proposed data centre on the Teesworks estate could have been identified, we note that the latter has the support of the Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, who have awarded the primary consent that would be required for the data centre development to proceed.
'Fundamentally, as per our previous submissions, the two proposals are incompatible on the same piece of land. In such changed circumstances, and in the absence of an alternative solution enabling coexistence, we are mindful that central and local government will need to consider competing priorities in a very different way than was the case when we submitted the DCO.
'We recognise that there may be other economic opportunities for the Teesworks site which could advance at pace.'
The letter continues with the view that hydrogen could have a significant role to play in the future energy market, but 'since the submission of the H2T DCO application and the end of the examination, the hydrogen demand situation in Teesside has also deteriorated as some major industrial consumers have either scaled back operations or postponed decarbonisation plans', significantly increasing the applicant’s risk in developing the H2 Teesside project'.
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