Whitby hydrogen village trial rejected

The government has rejected Cadent’s bid for a hydrogen village trial because of a lack of local support.

The project in Whitby was vying with Northern Gas Networks’ (NGN) initiative in Redcar for the green light to provide hydrogen to 2,000 houses.

However, the Whitby proposal met with opposition and in March Cadent and partner British Gas changed their plans, offering residents the chance to opt out of the trial and stay on natural gas. This would have entailed parallel mains being laid to carry natural gas while the existing one was converted to hydrogen.

Despite local concerns, Cadent appeared to be pushing ahead with the project ahead of an expected government decision this month. On Monday (10 July) afternoon a new handbook was distributed to residents including new details of benefits for those taking part. A drop-in session was planned for Wednesday.

However, just hours after the handbook was unveiled, energy minister Lord Callanan took to social media to say: “After listening to the views of residents, it’s clear that there is no strong local support, therefore Whitby will no longer be considered as the location for the UK’s first hydrogen village trial – discussions with NGN re Redcar are ongoing and we’ll announce next steps shortly.”

A Cadent spokesperson confirmed the decision to Utility Week, saying: “The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has informed us that ours is not the preferred proposal for the Hydrogen Village trial. We understand that this means that the government is likely to progress the trial in Redcar rather than in Whitby in Ellesmere Port.”

The company said the news would be “disappointing to the many residents who told us they wanted their community to play a pioneering role in decarbonising how we heat our homes” and expressed gratitude to the community. The spokesperson said the information gained in Whitby over the past year would still play an “invaluable role” in shaping the decarbonisation of heat.

They added: “Reaching net zero and keeping the UK’s homes and businesses safely and securely supplied with energy needs the whole of society to work together. Should the trial progress in Redcar, it will be an important step forward: NGN have our best wishes and full support.

“This isn’t goodbye from us to the residents of Whitby. Beyond a final decision from government on the project location in the Autumn, we will continue to keep people in the community safe and warm as their gas distribution network. We will also continue to work relentlessly to make sure that our customers have access to options that meet their diverse needs on the journey to net zero.”

Speaking to Utility Week in March, Cadent’s director of strategy Dr Angie Needle admitted that lack of choice had emerged as a key concern for Whitby residents but insisted the project was still viable.

The Redcar project remains a 100% conversion of the gas mains to hydrogen. Sarah Williams, of Wales & West Utilities, a partner with NGN on the project, told Utility Week last month: “In reality, when it comes to us switching consumers over if hydrogen is given the go-ahead, we won’t have choice. There won’t be natural gas and hydrogen in the streets for people to choose from.”

She added that support among Redcar residents was high, with 75% saying they were positive about the trial and only 5% negative.