A company that hopes to build the UK’s first waste-to-hydrogen plant in Manston says it also proposes to create a dedicated education and training hub.
Hydrogen TE (UK) Ltd (HTE) says its £120m scheme will also provide a community outreach and educational programme; including a visitor centre and field trip opportunities for schools, giving students first-hand experience of green energy in action; partnerships with schools, colleges and universities to promote STEM careers and provide training opportunities; a new training hub creating 30 additional roles, and support for local charities, sports clubs and community groups.
A planning application for the scheme is due to submitted before the end of this year. A a number of pre-application discussions have taken place.
If approved by Kent County Council, the 13-acre site will become the UK’s first plant to convert household and commercial waste into clean hydrogen, with HTE saying it will create some 100 full-time jobs by 2027.
The company says the aim is also for the facility to help local councils and businesses transition their transport fleets to hydrogen power, providing a faster, cleaner and more cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels.
Michael Engsted, managing director of HTE, said: “We’ve been hugely encouraged by the positive reception to our plans, and we want to build on that momentum by showing just how wide-reaching the benefits will be.
“This is not just about clean energy, it’s about jobs, skills, education and creating local pride in a facility that puts Kent and Thanet on the map as a leader in the hydrogen sector.
“At Hydrogen TE (UK) Ltd, we are not just building a waste to hydrogen plant, we are building a promise. A promise that industrial innovation can be clean, responsible, and community driven.
“We are passionate about what we do because we know the stakes: people, planet, and the future we all share.
“Every element of this facility has been designed to minimise environmental impact, maximise community value, and set a new benchmark for sustainable industry. This is not simply a hydrogen plant. It is a community asset, a local resilience hub, and a blueprint for sustainable progress.”
The firm says the training hub will help address a shortage of STEM-related opportunities in Thanet, reducing the need for young people to leave the area to pursue careers in science, engineering and green technologies.
Mr Engsted added: “Our aim is to inspire the next generation, while ensuring local people are at the forefront of the hydrogen transition. By creating both immediate job opportunities and a pipeline of future skills, we believe this project can deliver long-lasting social and economic value.
“Our plans are being built for the future, rooted in the Community, together, we are shaping a legacy that delivers cleaner energy, stronger communities, and a brighter tomorrow.”
The proposed site will use a heating process to break down the waste to atomic levels before converting the resulting syngas to clean hydrogen, the plant would create zero to very low emissions and THE says it will be virtually self-sustaining with approximately 70 per cent energy recovery.
The site is earmarked for land adjacent to Manston airport.
Hydrogen TE (UK) Ltd was incorporated as a company in 2023. As yet there have been no accounts filed with Companies House.
The Manston scheme would be the firm’s first project. According to its website, a second scheme is being mooted for a site in Cymbran, Wales, with a suggested £200m investment.
Hyundai launched the world’s largest waste-to-hydrogen plant, capable of producing over 30,000 tons of hydrogen annually, last year.
Based in Seoul, the plant converts organic waste and plastic into eco-friendly hydrogen through advanced biogas and gasification processes.
For more information about the company, visit www.hydrogen-te.com.
What’s the whole life E.R.O.E.I. figure?
Cwmbran, not Cymbran. It’s in South-East Wales.
Thanks, will correct in morning
What is the end to end E.R.O.E.I. figure please?
If it takes more energy to collect and transport the waste to the site, process it and then dispose of the waste, then it is neither economically or ecologically viable. Is it?
Except that the waste has to be collected, transported and disposed of in some manner anyway, they’ll be wanting to do a deal with the waste industry and offer free or low cost disposal. But siting such a process where about 270 degrees of your catchment area is sea, seems a bit odd when you want lots of waste.
The one to be built in in Teesside was benched due to poor profit margin forecasts.
What is the energy return on investment on plastic being dumped in the 3rd world and finding its way into ourseas and oceans and eventually into the food chain?
This is probably a call to fund this plant by some means of a subsidy, at least initially. We may have to consider a levy on plastic products.
A good start would be to stop forcing everyone to put their rubbish in plastic bags.
Knew you wouldn’t comment on that one! : )
Just who will use the hydrogen, and how will this very explosive, inflammable and volatile gas be stored and transported?
Andrew some could call your alleged fears a ‘conspiracy theory’ – a term you appear to admire so much.
What “alleged fears”?
The same way it is daily up and down the country. In safe, secure vessels and safe and secure transport trucks. Why so paranoid about something innately good?