June 03, 2025 [H2 View]- Hydrogen Transition Energy (HTE) has submitted planning permission to the Kent County Council to build a £120m ($162m) waste-to-hydrogen plant.
Located at a 10-acre site near Ramsgate, the proposed Manston plant would be one of the UK’s first waste-to-hydrogen initiatives once approved. HTE plans to implement it by the end of 2027, creating over 100 new jobs.
Reportedly, the plant will be designed to blend in with the surrounding Kent countryside, turning household and commercial waste into hydrogen.
The green energy firm will use an advanced thermal process – potentially a plasma gasification or a similar high-temperature method.
H2 View understands that the plant will break down waste into its basic molecular components, producing syngas that is then converted into clean hydrogen, with minimal emissions and around 70% of the energy recovered to make the plant nearly self-sustaining.
The hydrogen produced is expected to supply commercial heavy fleet operators and local authority waste management operations that want to decarbonise.
While waste-to-hydrogen projects can be costly to decarbonise, they help cut landfill use and methane emissions by turning existing waste into clean fuel.
“We are keen to establish the standard for plants like this, which will one day become a familiar sight across the UK,” explained Jeremy Parkin, Managing Director at HTE.
“We are doing our utmost to make it as self-sufficient as possible by using modern technology to assist with water harvesting and energy production.
“But we are also going the extra distance in terms of aesthetics, planting mature trees and shrubs, creating living walls to encourage local wildlife to flourish.”
The UK’s backing of large-scale waste-to-hydrogen initiatives, including the newly approved North Lincolnshire Green Energy Park (NLGEP), adds momentum to HTE’s proposal.
Last March, the UK Energy Secretary approved plans to turn commercial and household waste into low-carbon electricity and hydrogen.
NLGEP secured a Development Consent Order (DCO) for its plans to process up to 760,000 tonnes of waste per year to generate 95MWe of electricity, which will be used to power electrolysis and homes in the area.
