RWE, the UK’s leading electricity generator and one of the country’s leading renewable energy companies, is progressing with plans for a green hydrogen plant, in one of its core development areas Teesside: announcing it has acquired a significant land option at Wilton International.

Source: RWE

The company is developing opportunities for a large-scale green hydrogen production plant at the site with an initial size of up to 260MWe electrolyser and the ability to produce up to five tonnes per hour of green hydrogen.

This is a really significant step towards RWE’s ambitions for the production of green hydrogen in Teesside. We have secured land and have already completed feasibility and initial environmental studies with an aim to be operational by 2028. Detailed discussions with potential industrial customers have started, exploring ways the hydrogen produced can help them to decarbonise. It’s an exciting project and we are motivated by the prospect of bringing major green investment to the region.

Tom Glover, RWE UK Country Chair

The secured development land is in the heart of the Teesside Industrial area which is part of the wider East Coast Cluster. The land is next to industrial energy users and near planned hydrogen pipelines that could provide green hydrogen to support the industrial decarbonisation of the region. Teesside is committed to playing a vital role in helping the UK achieve its 2050 net zero ambitions by becoming one of the world’s first decarbonised industrial clusters through the production, consumption, and export of low carbon hydrogen.

Here in Teesside we know that there’s huge potential for new investment and jobs by grasping opportunities in industries of the future like green hydrogen, so it’s fantastic to see RWE’s investment in the Teesside Freeport taking a significant step forward. This project means another big name coming to Teesside to produce more clean homegrown energy and crucially more good-quality, well-paid jobs for local people. It just goes to show that all of our hard work in recent years is paying off with more investment, more jobs and more opportunities for local people to build a life and a career right here on Teesside.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen

Teesside and the UK East Coast areas are important to RWE, operating its Triton Knoll and Humber Gateway offshore wind farms from its Grimsby Hub Operations & Maintenance facility. The company is also constructing the 1.4 gigawatts (GW) Sofia offshore wind farm and developing two Dogger Bank South offshore wind projects. Onshore, RWE also operates many wind farms in the region and is developing several solar projects.

RWE is the largest power producer in the UK, and a leading renewable generator supplying around 15% of UK electricity with a diverse operational generation portfolio of onshore wind, offshore wind, hydro, biomass and gas. RWE is developing ~1GWe hydrogen opportunities across the UK. The company has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the development of green hydrogen projects across Europe including our lead 300MW GET H2 at Lingen. The company is targeting 2GW of green hydrogen electrolyser capacity in its core markets by 2030.