North Norfolk Council to look at options for Bacton Gas Terminal

It's amid fears it could eventually close - as the UK shifts to net-zero

The terminal has played an important part in UK energy production for over 50 years
Author: George Thompson, Local Democracy Reporting ServicePublished 5th Jun 2023

A Norfolk council is set to investigate what will happen if the gas stops flowing at one of the UK’s key energy suppliers.

North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) wants to commission research into the future challenges and opportunities at Bacton Gas Terminal.

The terminal has played an important part in UK energy production for over 50 years, supplying over a third of the country’s natural gas.

But recent years have seen suggestions that the site be repurposed for carbon capture and hydrogen production, which would help with government ambitions to cut climate change causing emissions.

Now NNDC wants to get ahead of the plans and see how they can steer the future of the site and continue to secure jobs in the area as the UK moves towards net zero.

A meeting of the Liberal Democrat-led council cabinet is being asked to approve creating a budget for the research on Monday.

How much it will cost has not been made public.

Tim Adams, the leader of NNDC, said: “We can’t risk being left behind here and we have the opportunity to steer the future of Bacton, if we can, in a positive way.

“There are a lot of benefits we would like to realise for north Norfolk, we would like to retain jobs and industry at Bacton.

“We want to have an understanding of the challenges and opportunities there are for us.”

Mr Adams said they also want to see if the production could benefit north Norfolk in other ways, for example, if it could help facilitate the transition to hydrogen-powered buses. Some of the challenges Mr Adams raised included the power needed to produce the hydrogen and the need for desalinated water – which has no minerals – which can push up costs.

Blue hydrogen fears

Current plans for Bacton would see it generating hydrogen using natural gas – a product branded ‘blue hydrogen’.

Blue hydrogen is often supported by carbon capture and storage, with the CO2 generated in the process stored underground.

However, some environmental groups argue that this type of energy is still harmful to the environment and that the move should be toward green hydrogen.

Green hydrogen is generated by renewable energy or from low-carbon power. It is believed to have significantly lower carbon emissions from other types of hydrogen creation.

Much more investment into the Bacton plant would be needed for it to produce green hydrogen, however, there are studies into seeing if it is viable in the future.

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