Plans for a new green hydrogen production facility as well as a warehouse and storage unit on the Trafford and Salford border have been tabled. If planning permission was granted for Peel NRE Limited, the land west of Manchester Road could see a 19,000sqm industrial warehouse and storage facility in addition to the green hydrogen production facility in the quarry to the north.
The application for the UK’s largest hydrogen production facility, submitted by Trafford Green Hydrogen Ltd, would use renewable energy to produce green hydrogen fuel for transport and heating. It is hoped that this facility will help the Government reach their target of being net zero by 2050.
“This is a technology which uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen,” the planning proposal from Trafford Green Hydrogen said.
“The hydrogen will be transported by road tanker to users in the Greater Manchester Region. The technology is categorised as a low carbon generation because it utilises renewable electrical energy.
“In addition to the electrolyser technology, the facility will include battery storage, compressors, hydrogen storage and tanker loading facilities. The initial facility, subject to full planning, will comprise a first stage of 10MW capacity, which would produce of the order of four tonnes of hydrogen per day at full output.”
The annual production of hydrogen is estimated at 1,000 tonnes. Further development would see hydrogen storage facilities.
“Working with industry, our ambition is for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for use across the economy,” the Government's UK Hydrogen Strategy (published in August 2021) said. “This could produce hydrogen equivalent to the amount of gas consumed by over 3 million households in the UK each year.
“This new, low carbon hydrogen could help provide cleaner energy to power our economy and our everyday lives – from cookers to distilleries, film shoots to power plants, waste trucks to steel production, and 40 tonne diggers to the heat in our homes. Meeting our ambition means a rapid ramp up of production and use of hydrogen over the coming decade.”
The latest application in the area of an industrial warehouse is looking to capitalise on the booming economic growth in the area. The site is bound by the former quarry with plans for the hydrogen production plans, Carrington Power Station to the north, greenfield land to the east, Saica Paper Mill to the south, and the Manchester Ship Canal to the west.
Included in Peel HRE’s plans is works to the existing junction and access road. The roads will be widened to allow better movement for HGVs.
The warehouse unit will look to create many more jobs for the area, however the actual number was not disclosed in the planning documents submitted to Trafford Council and Salford City Council. The hydrogen production facility is set to create eight more jobs initially and the Peel LRE’s storage unit and warehouse will help "meet the needs of local employers to provide more employment opportunities", according to their design and access statement.
