Plans for hydrogen-powered peaking plant on Yorkshire's coastline 'a lot bigger' than locals expected

SSE Thermal's £350m to £400m 50MW project would see hydrogen produced and stored at a site near Aldbrough on Yorkshire's coast before being used to power a turbine to create electricity to feed into the grid at times of peak demand.

One of the main challenges with intermittent renewables like offshore wind is how to store the excess energy - hydrogen is an alternative to batteries.

Hydrogen would be manufactured using "low carbon" electricity, delivered via an existing substation at the site, to split water into its component parts.

It would then be stored in an underground cavern 1.8 kilometres down in a layer of rock salt, previously used to store natural gas.

Residents at an event at Aldbrough on Thursday were told it would be the "first power station at this scale in the UK and pretty much the world".

If the plans are approved, the plant could be operational by 2030.

Attendees were able to see what the site will look like from any chosen viewpoint nearby using an interactive tool.

Some were dismayed by its size and concerned by creeping industrialisation of the coastline - it will have a 30m high stack and the turbine will be 14m high.

One resident said it will "look like a chemical factory" and was a "lot bigger" than she'd anticipated.

SSE Thermal and Equinor have also announced plans to create one of the world’s largest hydrogen storage facilities, doubling the number of underground caverns, which will being development closer to the hamlets of Grimston and Garton.

Caroline Turner from Blue Hall at Garton said they'd had to jump through hoops to install solar panels to ensure they were were hidden behind a hedge so as not to impact the Grade II star listed building.

"But if you look out of our bottom window based on that montage you will be able to see the whole thing in winter - it just doesn't seem fair.

"They are talking about a cavern under the mill field.

"It's meant to be a tourist area not an industrial area."

The plans will have to demonstrate a minimum 10 per cent Biodiversity Net Gain - which SSE said will include planting trees and grassland areas. There will be also be more money - £25,000 a year - available for community projects.

The government's ambition is to have up 10GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity installed by 2030 “subject to affordability and value for money”.

In April it allocated more than £2bn of subsidies to 11 projects, including a 25MW hydrogen production facility in Bradford. The subsidies will paid out once they start producing hydrogen. The government said it looked to industry “to rise to the challenge of demonstrating significant cost reductions as the UK hydrogen sector takes off”.