Air Products is abandoning plans for a major green hydrogen import and production terminal at the Port of Immingham in the UK.
The project—originally expected to generate 1,400 jobs and inject more than £4.5 billion into the Humber economy—was shelved due to what the company describes as a “lack of commitment” from UK ministers.
Air Products, one of the largest hydrogen producers globally, had intended to develop the Immingham Green Energy Terminal in partnership with Associated British Ports (ABP). The proposed project would have included a 300MW domestic hydrogen production facility and infrastructure to import green hydrogen—primarily ammonia—from the firm’s flagship 2.2GW Neom project in Saudi Arabia. The UK Department for Transport had approved the project earlier in 2024.
Yet despite regulatory clearance, the company cited insufficient governmental support as the primary reason for withdrawal. The move has triggered renewed scrutiny over the UK government’s capacity to provide long-term investment clarity and incentives for hydrogen infrastructure.
The decision underscores growing tensions between industrial players eager to scale hydrogen infrastructure and a government that has yet to fully de-risk such capital-intensive ventures. Air Products’ criticism points to the absence of firm policy mechanisms or offtake guarantees that would enable investors to commit capital at scale.
The project’s shelving also calls into question the credibility of the UK’s hydrogen strategy. While the British government has announced ambitions to deliver up to 10GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, with at least half from green hydrogen, policy follow-through remains uneven. Notably, several rounds of the Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR) have faced delays and ambiguity over subsidy timelines and eligibility criteria.
By contrast, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark have moved aggressively to back hydrogen import terminals, offtake agreements, and industrial decarbonisation with targeted state aid and transparent policy frameworks. The UK’s perceived lack of industrial coordination and long-term demand signaling is increasingly being seen as a competitive disadvantage.
The Immingham project was seen as a cornerstone of the Humber’s industrial decarbonization strategy. The region, home to the UK’s most carbon-intensive cluster, is under pressure to reduce emissions while maintaining economic activity in chemicals, refining, and heavy transport.
The cancelled terminal would have acted as both a domestic hydrogen source and an import node, connecting UK consumers with international hydrogen supply chains via maritime ammonia transport. Its absence may now delay the regional roll-out of hydrogen-dependent applications in shipping, rail, and industry.
More broadly, the decision reflects a widening mismatch between project-level readiness and national-level policy certainty. The UK’s hydrogen roadmap identifies import infrastructure as a key enabler of decarbonisation and energy resilience. However, without clear commercial models or public-private risk-sharing arrangements, developers may divert capital to more predictable policy environments.
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