Teesside Airport will become home to a permanent hydrogen refuelling station through the next phase of the Hydrogen Transport Hub Demonstration competition.
The government announced £8mn in funding spread across two projects, both of which will encourage more businesses and innovators to develop new technology to accelerate transport decarbonisation, using hydrogen to do so. Teesside Airport previously hosted a temporary refuelling station as part of the Tees Valley Hydrogen Transport Hub trial in 2021. This allowed it to secure low emission hydrogen fuelled vehicles.
Now, it will welcome a permanent hydrogen refuelling facility late next year, or early 2025, following Element 2 securing funding for four new publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations. This will ensure the stations can be used by a range of vehicles, including supermarket delivery trucks, as well as airside vehicles. ULEMCo also secured funding, supporting its efforts to develop hydrogen-powered airport ground-based support vehicles. This could include tow trucks for aeroplanes, or sweepers to clean runways.
Both projects are expected to support Teesside Airport’s efforts to become operationally net zero by 2030. It is championing other schemes too, such as the development and adoption of sustainable aviation fuel, and a study into establishing a local green energy company, which is underway. This could see solar panels set up on land beside the airport’s runway.
Elsewhere, £300,000 has been delivered directly into colleges in the area, helping to support the upskilling of the local workforce and foster a specialised skills base and pipeline of talent in hydrogen.
