UK Oil & Gas plc (UKOG) has received approval on appeal to the Government for its Loxley gas and hydrogen feedstock project in Surrey.
APPEAL
The county council has twice refused the application on PEDL234, which led the company to appeal to the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities.
In January 2022, the secretary of state recovered the appeal from the Planning Inspectorate.
UKOG now has planning and environmental approval, allowing the project to proceed.
HYDROGEN STRATEGY
The company said it envisaged Loxley would play its part in the Government’s hydrogen strategy via the supply of its gas as feedstock for reformation into clean burning hydrogen.
This has an energy source with an 85% reduction in related carbon emissions versus natural gas, added UKOG.
DOMESTIC GAS
“We welcome this decision and its backing for Loxley’s gas as a secure, sustainable energy source with a far lower pre-combustion carbon footprint than imports,” said chief executive Stephen Sanderson.
“Backing UK domestic gas makes strategic, economic and environmental good sense.
“We look forward to moving the Loxley project forwards and to working constructively with the local community.”
At the end of May, UKOG’s subsidiary UK Energy Storage Ltd signed a lease with Portland Port Ltd for two sites at the former Royal Navy port in Dorset.
The company hopes to develop, subject to planning approval and funding, an integrated energy hub, for hydrogen-ready gas storage and a future green hydrogen generation capability.