BP Pulls Out of Hydrogen Project in Northern England

By Adria Calatayud

BP walked away from plans for a hydrogen hub in northern England, paving the way for a rival project to build a data center at a former steelworks site.

The U.K. energy group pulled its application for permission to develop the project--called H2Teesside--on Monday, citing a plan to bring forward a data center that resulted in a conflict over the same land.

"Due to material changes in circumstances on the Teesworks site, including a planning application being granted locally for a data center on the same piece of land, we have taken the decision not to progress the development of H2Teesside and have withdrawn our development consent order application for the project," BP said.

The withdrawal came after delays to a U.K. government decision on its application, after plans for a data center gained support from local authorities.

BP's decision to abandon the U.K. hydrogen project comes at a time when the company is scaling back efforts to pivot away from fossil fuels into renewable energy, and returning to oil-and-gas production in a bid to win over investors.

The company unveiled its plans for the project in 2021, with the goal of building one of the largest production sites of so-called blue hydrogen--produced using fossil fuels as an energy source--in the U.K., alongside a carbon-dioxide capture-and-storage facility. It aimed to reach 1.2 gigawatts of hydrogen production, or 10% of the U.K. government's 2030 target, and to supply customers already established in the region as well as new businesses, according to its website.

BP said it continues to move forward with other projects on Teesside, including its investments in Net Zero Teesside Power, a power plant with integrated carbon capture, and the Northern Endurance Partnership, a carbon capture-and-storage project.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 02, 2025 03:07 ET (08:07 GMT)