BP cancels blue hydrogen plant in UK amidst data centre location clash

Oil giant BP has scrapped the building of a hydrogen plant on Teesside following a row over whether the site would be better suited to housing a data centre instead, according to a report by BBC.

A government decision on whether the plant at Teesworks in Redcar could be built had been due this week.

But the energy firm backed out before the decision could be made, citing a “material change in circumstances” to the land that the plant had been due to be built on.

The project, H2Teesside, had been mired in controversy after landowners South Tees Group (STG) sought permission to build a data centre there instead.

BP said the data centre planning application had been part of the “material change in circumstances” the land had faced.

A spokesperson said: “We continue to move forward with other projects on Teesside, including our investments in Net Zero Teesside Power and the Northern Endurance Partnership, and remain an active partner in the region.”

STG claimed the proposed data centre was of “critical national importance”.

BP previously said it was willing to have discussions aimed at finding a solution “that would enable both developments to co-exist”.

Previously, it had said the development would have had a “peak construction workforce of 1,300 jobs”.

Teesworks is run as a joint venture between the publicly owned and funded South Tees Development Corporation, led by the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA), and Teesside businessmen Martin Corney and Chris Musgrave.