ScottishPower, with Hutchison Ports, is exploring the opportunity to develop, build and operate a green hydrogen production facility at the Port of Felixstowe.
Plans are being developed to use green hydrogen for onshore purposes, such as road, rail and industrial use, with the potential to create liquid forms, such as green ammonia or e-methanol.
This could, in turn, provide clean fuels for shipping and aviation. The project aims to continue engineering and site development works to align with customer demand from 2025 onwards.
As well as accelerating the potential for cleaner industrial processes at the port, green hydrogen is poised to transform the heavy transport sector.
Barry Carruthers, hydrogen director at ScottishPower, said: “This strategically important project could potentially create a clean fuels hub that could unlock nationally significant decarbonisation for the region, as well as playing a role in international markets.
“It’s perfectly located not far from our existing and future offshore wind farms in the East Anglia region, and demonstrates how renewable electricity and green hydrogen can now start to help to decarbonise road, rail, shipping and industry.”
Therese Coffey, local MP for Suffolk Coastal, said: “I warmly welcome Hutchison Ports’ and Scottish Power’s joint plans to explore opportunities for a large-scale hydrogen hub at the Port of Felixstowe, providing green fuel at the UK’s largest container port.
“It’s schemes like this - and investment from industry as well as government - which is crucial for us to reach net zero by 2050.”
The Felixstowe project follows ScottishPower’s plans to help transform heavy industry in Scotland with green hydrogen projects in the Cromarty Firth and at Whitelee in Glasgow.
Parent company Iberdrola is also spearheading the development of green hydrogen, with more than 60 projects in eight countries to decarbonise heavy industry and transport.
The Port of Felixstowe is Britain’s biggest and busiest container port, and one of the largest in Europe. It handles more than four million 20-foot equivalent units and approximately 2,000 ships each year.
Approximately 6,000 heavy goods vehicles pass through the port and surrounding areas every day.
Separately, talks aimed at averting strikes by workers at the port have failed to resolve a dispute over pay.
Members of the Unite union are set to walk out for eight days from 21 August.
The port authority said it offered a £500 lump sum on top of a 7% pay rise during talks on Monday.
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