Hydrogen refuelling: Element 2’s Teeside Airport station bags planning approval
Planning permission is usually a snooze-fest, but this one’s a biggie. Element 2 – a well seated newcomer in the hydrogen infrastructure scene – has landed the council’s official planning approval for its first fully fledged hydrogen refuelling station, soon to pop up next to the former St. George Hotel at Teesside International Airport.
Why Teesside?
Teesside’s been going heavy on hydrogen for a while. Back in 2021, the region hosted a major hydrogen refuelling trial that put hydrogen-powered cars, trucks, vans, a forklift, and even an airport tug through their paces, of which Element 2 were the exclusive provider.
This new station is part of a government-backed push to make Tees Valley a bona fide hydrogen transport hub – offering cleaner fuel options to everything from haulage fleets to airport ground vehicles and buses.
UK hydrogen refuelling infrastructure
Hydrogen adoption suffers from the classic chicken-and-egg problem: no refuelling stations means fewer vehicles, and fewer vehicles mean nobody wants to build refuelling stations.
This approval, then, matters – a lot. Element 2’s Teesside station wants to break that cycle by setting up the infrastructure first in this busy little corner of the UK.
The station itself will feature two refuelling bays (offering 350 and 700 bar), a canopy, a single dispenser, and three storage tanks – all designed and built by French specialists Hydrogen Refuelling Solutions.
Some of the funding for the station comes via Innovate UK, while Element 2 has already logged over 1,500 refuelling ‘operations’ at smaller pilot sites – the firm says the number is much higher, but at 1,500 they stopped counting. Teeside, however, will be the company’s first proper retail site.
Element 2 and local backing
Element 2 says it aims to build a nationwide network of reliable, safe hydrogen refuelling stations – 50 stations in 5 years (by 2030) if all goes to plan. Getting Teesside’s official thumbs-up is a big milestone.
The company says it has options on further sites ‘from Land’s End to John O’Groats’, with full planning permission at a few more sites (including the Exelby Station at Coneygarth on the A1 M), but Tees Valley is the first that they are building out.
Element 2’s CEO, Dr. Andrew Hagan, also teased a potential further site to announce soon, but did not give specifics.
Hagan said to Driving Hydrogen: “Having been present and refuelling at Tees Valley for almost four years, we at Element 2 are excited to be progressing with our first permanent UK hydrogen refuelling station.
“With full planning at the Exelby Coneygarth site nearby on the A1(M), our UK and Ireland network has a first nucleus in North East England. Others will follow shortly, further enabling the paths to net zero.”
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen – who’s championed everything from carbon capture to hydrogen buses – hailed the station as “another step forward to supporting the cleaner, healthier and safer industries of tomorrow” back in August.
A perfect fit for Teesside’s green plans
Historically, Teesside thrived on heavy industry and remains an industrial powerhouse. Now it’s rewriting the script to become a hydrogen leader.
That includes building a Hydrogen Transport Hub, exploring carbon capture, and ramping up industrial-scale hydrogen production. The idea is that decarbonising both transport and industry can bring thousands of new local jobs while cutting emissions.
Teesside International Airport wants in on the action, too. It’s already looking beyond ground vehicles toward Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to shrink flight-related emissions. The plan is to be operationally net zero by 2030 – and that’s no small ambition.
What happens next?
Now that the project has the green light, Element 2 gets to jump through the usual hoops – environmental assessments, construction logistics, all that fun stuff.
Once the station is up and running, it should make hydrogen a more accessible option for local fleets and, eventually, everyday drivers.
There is no shortage of interest in hydrogen vehicles from fleets, so if Element 2 can replicate this retail model elsewhere, it will finally open the door to help push hydrogen vehicles out of the margins and onto the mainstream stage.
