As the first phase in its HyGreen Teesside project, BP plans to develop a 60MW green hydrogen plant by 2025.

By the end of the decade, this might have grown to 500MW of electrolysis, adding to the 1GW of projected blue hydrogen capacity – based on gas connected to carbon capture – under the already-announced H2Teesside program.

HyGreen and H2Teesside are part of a larger drive to become the region the UK’s first integrated hydrogen center and a key source of the fuel for heavy industry, according to BP. They may account for 30 percent of the UK government’s 5GW 2030 target for H2 production.

The first phase’s size dwarfs Iberdrola’s proposed 20MW electrolyser in Scotland, which was touted earlier this year as the largest ever built in the UK.

BP is pursuing one of the most ambitious renewable energy development plans of any oil and gas company, with a goal of having 50GW net on its books globally by 2030 and a pipeline that already includes a half-stake in 3GW of offshore wind in the Irish Sea set to come online later this decade, as well as the potential for more major projects off the UK that could see part of their output allocated to renewable hydrogen. Green H2 will also be produced on a lesser scale in Aberdeen.

The firm plans to make a final investment decision on the first phase of HyGreen by 2023, but it, like others working on hydrogen projects in the UK, is waiting to see what kind of support the government will provide.