Work has started on creating a hydrogen refuelling station at Teesside International Airport. The new Element 2 hydrogen refuelling station, near the former St George Hotel, will refuel all hydrogen road vehicles (trucks, vans, cars) plus airport vehicles, with both 700 and 350 bar refuelling.
Construction work on the project will be complete in spring 2025, before a period of installation and commissioning ahead of the operations beginning. The site is part of the Tees Valley Hydrogen Transport hub, funded by the UK government, which will create public hydrogen refuelling stations across the region.
Element 2, a UK hydrogen refuelling business, is managing the project with funding from the government, and helping to provide the infrastructure needed for the widespread use of hydrogen as a transport fuel. The company is addressing the growing demand for hydrogen from heavy goods vehicles and commercial distribution fleets. Since Element 2’s creation in 2020, it has completed more than 1500 refuelling events from its refuelling sites for a range of blue-chip customers and vehicle types.
Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, said: “We were first out of the blocks when it came to backing hydrogen and it’s great to see the groundwork is now paying off with action and results. We want to continue to stretch our lead at the forefront of the cleaner, healthier, and safer industries of tomorrow and having this station at our airport is a huge marker laid down to the rest of the country. The upshot of investing and working in these industries is we are at the front of the queue in bringing hundreds of good, well-paid jobs to our people and our airport in the years to come.”
Teesside Airport hosted a temporary Element 2 hydrogen refuelling station and secured low-emission hydrogen fuelled vehicles in 2021 – including cars, truck, forklift, vans, and tugs.
The region is also becoming a hotbed for the burgeoning sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry – with the airport also recently securing a 100% renewable energy agreement with broker 121 Business Links.
Airport Managing Director, Phil Forster, added: “We are flying more people to more destinations, but we are also adding more strings to our bow at Teesside Airport, especially with our green energy ambitions. Securing planning permission for this new Element 2 hydrogen refuelling station is another key milestone. We are developing new technology at the airport and utilising clean energy fuels which will all help to boost our airport.”
James Harris, Element 2 CEO, continued: “Element 2 is providing the UK backbone for hydrogen supply and retail infrastructure for industries, Power to Liquid (PtL), off-grid and transport demand, and this site at Teesside helps to drive and further strengthen the UK-wide infrastructure that is much needed for commercial access to hydrogen. We are excited to work with Teesside International Airport, Innovate UK, and local commercial fleets to achieve this and help reduce transport emissions in the Tees Valley.”