Council deletes press release backing hydrogen plant after safety body says it could be unsafe

Martin Shipton

A council that supports the building of a controversial hydrogen energy plant has deleted a press release backing the project after the Health and Safety Executive said it should be rejected on safety grounds.

Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) plans to sell land at the Brynmenyn Industrial Estate, near Bridgend, for around £1m to Cardiff Capital Region, a consortium of 10 local authorities in south east Wales, local businesses and other organisations.

The land would then be used in conjunction with the Japanese Marubeni Corporation to develop hydrogen as a clean energy source.

memorandum of understanding

Memorandum of understanding

In 2022 BCBC signed a memorandum of understanding with Marubeni which set out how they intended to work together to explore and develop a hydrogen energy initiative. But later BCBC withdrew from the project on the grounds of affordability. It was later taken up by Cardiff Capital Region, which has agreed to buy the land if planning permission for a hydrogen and solar plant on the site is granted.

However, Marubeni has a chequered history, with a total of 86 separate convictions involving the corporation and its subsidiary companies in the United States since 2000 with fines totalling nearly $160m.

The two most serious offences relate to two bribery convictions under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, with one resulting in a fine of £88m and the other a fine of $54.6m.

But there are safety concerns too.

Lawrence Till is a director of an engineering company whose premises in Bridgend looks on to the site of a hydrogen plant whose construction is due to start in the autumn.

Elevated explosion risks

He has spent his career working in the energy industry and has years of experience working in zones with elevated explosion risks. He has expressed concern about the safety of hydrogen plants like the one proposed, stating: “The costs associated with hydrogen are significant – and the safety issues of hydrogen are very significant. When Norway had four [hydrogen] filling stations, one of them exploded, resulting in the whole of the infrastructure for hydrogen cars in the country collapsing. There have been multiple hydrogen-related issues in transport in California, including a seven-month old facility with 10 buses at $1.1m each where one of the buses exploded during refuelling.”

BCBC recently published the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE’s) response to the application for Hazardous Substances Consent (HAZ) at the proposed HyBont hydrogen site.

The HSE has recommended against approving the HAZ application on the basis that it has “concluded that the risks to the surrounding population arising from the proposed operation(s) are sufficiently high to justify advising against the granting of Hazardous Substances Consent on grounds of safety”.

Prior to publication of the HSE’s objection, BCBC carried on its website and its social media accounts a press release that asserted the hydrogen energy site was safe – and that those objecting to it were spreading misinformation.

Press release

The press release, written in 2022 and issued in the name of Cllr John Spanswick, then the authority’s cabinet member for communities and now the council leader, stated: “Unfortunately, a great deal of misinformation is already in circulation about the proposed new Hybont plant, and slime of the claims have been wildly inaccurate.

“This is proven technology, which is already in use elsewhere and which, if the proposal is successful, promises to deliver a £31m investment into the local economy of Bridgend County Borough and ensure that we are at the forefront of the increasing use of sustainable energy in everyday life.

“I hope that people will use this opportunity to come and find out exactly what is going on, and to get the facts directly from the real experts. We will also be providing additional briefings for local councillors, MPs and AMs to ensure that they are fully informed.”

Independent councillor Tim Thomas raised the issue of the deleted press release at a BCBC meeting, stating: “I note that the BCBC press release warning against Hybont information has now been removed both from online and the council website. I have been able to obtain the press release from other sources … I would like to ask the leader would he like to use this opportunity to apologise to the people of St Bride’s Minor and Ynysawdre who have raised legitimate concerns.”

Cllr Spanswick responded: “The simple answer is no, because at this moment in time there is nothing to apologise for. It’s a live planning application. When that’s completed then we can discover where the correct information is or is not. At that point I would like to consider what is the appropriate statement to make.”