Plans for a new hydrogen refuelling station at Teesside International Airport (MME) have been submitted to Darlington Borough Council.
This is part of a project to build four publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations in the Tees Valley region.
These stations, funded by the UK government, will supply hydrogen to airport vehicles, delivery trucks, vans and other vehicles.
The plans are led by hydrogen refuelling company, Element 2.
Tim Harper, Element 2 CEO said:Element 2 is building the first national network of reliable, safe, high-quality hydrogen refuelling stations across the UK, and this airport site helps drive this ambition. We are delighted to work with Teesside International Airport, Innovate UK and local commercial fleets to help reduce transport emissions in the Tees Valley.
The new station will be built on land near the former St George Hotel. Its operation will support the airport’s mission to become operationally net zero by 2030.
Airport Managing Director Phil Forster said:We’re all working very hard to make Teesside a modern airport pushing boundaries and making people proud. We’re flying more people to more destinations, but we’re also adding more strings to our bow, with our cargo facility, the business park, new hangars and our green energy ambitions.
This hydrogen refuelling station is another part of that push. We’re pioneering 5G technology and now we’re pioneering clean energy fuels which will all help to boost our airport.
In 2021, Teesside Airport trialled a temporary refuelling station for low-emission hydrogen-fuelled vehicles. This included cars, a truck, a forklift, a van and a tug as part of a regional trial.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said:We were one of the first areas to trial hydrogen fuels and it’s great to see we’re still leading the charge with this new station.
This hydrogen station is another step forward to supporting the cleaner, healthier and safer industries of tomorrow – and airport is leading the charge. It also adds to what we’re doing in backing the production and adoption of sustainable aviation fuel, which is set to be bring hundreds more well-paid jobs to our region.
The next step here is approval and I’m looking forward to seeing spades in the ground on yet another cutting-edge project at our airport.
Funding for the wider project comes from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.
