THE Government has confirmed that residents in Ellesmere Port who could potentially be part of a hydrogen village trial would not be forced on to hydrogen boilers.

Energy efficiency minister Lord Callanan made the comments during a House of Lords debate on the Energy Bill on Tuesday, March 28.

He said if the trial was to get the go-ahead in Ellesmere Port, residents who did not wish to use hydrogen gas would not be able to continue using natural gas, but would have an alternative heating solution, which could be biomass, electricity or other fuels.

The news came as peers defeated the Government in backing a move aimed at preventing hard-pressed householders having to pay more on their energy bills to fund production of low carbon hydrogen.

The House of Lords voted by 170 to 160, majority 10, in favour of a legislative change that would prevent the planned levy being imposed on gas or electricity suppliers in a bid to protect consumers, already saddled with hefty costs.

Instead, it would allow the charge to be imposed on gas shippers, which buy and sell the fuel and arrange for its transportation.

Lord Callanan told the House of Lords: “By seeking to ensure the levy could only be placed on gas shippers these amendments appear to try and protect energy consumers from the costs of a levy, however we anticipate that any costs associated with a levy on gas shippers would of course be ultimately passed on to energy consumers.”

Highlighting the financial support already provided by the Government to help keep down bills, the minister added: “We are committed to helping to ensure the costs of the UK’s energy transition are fair and affordable to all consumers.

“Our exposure to volatile global gas prices underscores, in our view, the importance of our plan to build a strong, homegrown low carbon energy sector. Something this levy is directly aimed at achieving.

“I am disappointed the opposition seem to want to undermine that aim.”

Later, the minister moved to reassure peers over potential hydrogen trial areas in Whitby, Ellesmere Port, and Redcar, insisting they would only go ahead where there was strong local support.

He said: “All consumers will have the right to decide whether to use hydrogen or an alternative heating solution for the purposes of this trial. It could be biomass, it could be electricity or potentially other fuels.

“Nobody in the trial area will be forced to take hydrogen if they don’t want to and we have committed to ensuring that customers are not financially disadvantaged.”

Peers raised the fact a poll will be carried out, by the council, among Whitby residents to gauge their interest in the hydrogen village trial. The poll would be non-binding but would aim to send a message to the Government.

Labour Lord Lennie said: "The trials are much more popular in Redcar, I am led to believe, than they are in Whitby.

"An exchange of correspondence took place between Graham Stuart, the Minister at DESNZ, and Justin Madders MP and Louise Gittins, who is the leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council.

"To quote from the letter from Graham Stuart, he said: 'I fully agree that local support for the trial is essential … However, we will only go ahead with a trial in an area where there is strong local support … I do agree it is very important this context is set out clearly, particularly for the communities in the areas across the country served by the gas networks which the networks are assessing.'

"If that is true, certainly in Whitby, I do not think a trial will proceed, but I may be wrong.

"I would welcome the Minister’s assessment of the correspondence and what he makes of it in relation to the trial. It is not so much about cost, although there is a cost, and it is not so much about safety, although there is a safety issue; it is about local democracy and whether they want the thing to go ahead in the first place." 

Lord Callanan added: “No trial will go ahead until all the necessary safety assessments have been successfully carried out.

“If it goes ahead the trial will start in 2025 and it will provide vital evidence that will be required to enable the Government to make decisions in 2026 on any potential future role for hydrogen in decarbonising heat.”