
Air Products says it has not cancelled its Immingham green hydrogen project in Humberside, despite media reports to the contrary emerging this week.
However, the project’s prospects of going ahead are far from certain and will depend on the company obtaining the levels of government support it deems necessary for the scheme to be viable.
The Times reported on June 16 that Air Products had abandoned the project, citing a letter sent by Air Products’ vice president and general manager for the UK, Suzanne Lowe, to the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brigg & Immingham, Martin Vickers.
According to the newspaper, in her letter, Lowe accused the government of a lack of a “suitable commitment” to support the scheme.
The letter, as quoted by the Times, went on to specify that while current government policy supports a number of blue and green hydrogen production processes, it excludes hydrogen production from imported renewable ammonia.
And not opening up support would leave Air Products “with no viable path to build and operate a large-scale hydrogen production facility in the UK”, the letter continued.
Other news outlets subsequently picked up the story, reporting that the green hydrogen project was either being shelved or cancelled outright.
Air Products Immingham
However, Air Products told Energy Voice that its position on the project had not changed since the company’s last earnings call and it had not cancelled the project.
Nonetheless, before advancing any decisions around an investment, the company is continuing to seek clarity on the levels of government support it can expect.
“As noted on our recent earnings call, we’re seeking regulatory clarity before advancing decisions around our European downstream investments, including Immingham,” Air Products said in a statement.
“We continue to engage with the UK government to determine whether the necessary policy support can be put in place to enable firm customer commitments.”
During the earnings call, held in May, Air Products’ CEO, Eduardo Menezes, was asked specifically about the status of infrastructure build-out in the UK, Netherlands and Germany.
He responded at the time that all activity there was essentially paused – aside from permitting and some engineering – until the company had clarity on what the regulatory environment would be like in each of those countries.
Green ammonia
The Immingham project would supply up to 76,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of renewable hydrogen produced from imported green ammonia.
The project is being developed in partnership with Associated British Ports (ABP), which is setting up a green energy terminal at Immingham that the Air Products’ scheme would be part of.
The facility received development consent from the UK Secretary of State for Transport in February this year.
Air Products believes that by importing ammonia, it can scale up green hydrogen production without being affected by the intermittency issues that could affect green hydrogen projects dependent on local renewable sources.
Imported ammonia can be used to produce green hydrogen in large, reliable quantities, according to the company.
The Port of Immingham would be well-positioned for this, Air Products says, because it has the capacity to accommodate very large gas carriers (VLGCs) as well as being located in proximity to end markets and required utilities.
Whether speculation over the potential cancellation of Air Products’ Immingham project galvanises the government into offering more support remains to be seen.