Project Union: East Coast is National Gas's plan for more than 300 miles of hydrogen pipeline from Teesside, through Yorkshire and the Humber, into the East Midlands. It is in a two-year front-end engineering design (FEED) phase, and the Planning Inspectorate lists it at pre-application stage, with a development consent application expected in December 2028. A public consultation was promised for later in 2026. Here is how the project is structured and what the consent process involves.
The project in brief
When National Gas unveiled the East Coast plans in March 2026, its announcement, carried by energy-pedia, described it as the first phase of Project Union, a programme that could create up to 1,500 miles of 100% hydrogen network across Great Britain. The East Coast section would link into the Humber Hydrogen cluster, whose partners are National Gas, Centrica, Equinor and SSE Thermal, and forms part of East Coast Hydrogen, a collaboration between National Gas, Northern Gas Networks and Cadent.
Some headline numbers from that announcement:
- more than 300 miles of hydrogen pipeline in the East Coast phase;
- a two-year FEED phase covering design, environmental assessment, consents and consultation;
- around 3,100 jobs at peak construction, according to early analysis;
- £300 million a year in direct gross value added.
Funding for the development work comes partly through the price control. In November 2025 Ofgem confirmed £164 million for three National Gas projects, one of which is Project Union: East Coast. Our article on RIIO-3 and gas pipeline investment explains how that regulatory funding works.
Repurposed and new-build pipe
The Planning Inspectorate's project page describes the scheme as repurposing existing pipelines and building new ones to create a core hydrogen network. It names the key new-build areas as around Teesside, the Humber region and the East Midlands, with the route also passing through North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
The mix matters for engineering. Repurposing an existing natural gas transmission line can avoid years of construction and much of the land disturbance, but only if the steel, welds and fittings are suitable for hydrogen at the planned pressure. New-build sections can be designed for hydrogen from scratch. Our article on repurposing gas pipelines for hydrogen goes through the checks engineers make first: material grade and toughness, existing defects and fatigue, hydrogen embrittlement, compression and leak detection.
Taking a line out of gas service
A transmission pipeline cannot be switched to hydrogen while it still carries natural gas for customers. Repurposing depends on the wider network having enough spare capacity, or enough parallel lines, for one to be withdrawn without affecting security of supply. That is a system planning question as much as a pipeline one, and it links to the supply and demand analysis National Gas publishes each winter, which we summarise in our article on the Gas Winter Outlook 2026/27.
How development consent works
Project Union: East Coast is going through the Planning Act 2008 regime for nationally significant infrastructure projects, which leads to a development consent order (DCO) rather than local planning permission. The process has several broad stages:
- Pre-application. The developer designs the scheme, carries out environmental surveys and holds consultation with the public, landowners, local authorities and statutory bodies. This is where Project Union is now.
- Application and acceptance. The developer submits the application with an environmental statement, and the Planning Inspectorate checks whether it is complete enough to examine. National Gas expects to apply in December 2028.
- Examination. An examining authority tests the application through written questions and hearings, and interested parties can take part.
- Recommendation and decision. The examining authority reports to the Secretary of State, who decides whether to grant consent.
A DCO can include compulsory acquisition powers, temporary possession of land for construction and the many consents a linear project needs, which is one reason it suits long pipelines crossing many landholdings and local authority areas.
What the consultation will cover
National Gas said in March 2026 that it would take plans out for public consultation later in the year. We had not seen confirmation of a launch date at the time of writing. When it opens, consultations on pipeline schemes usually show route corridors and options, locations for above-ground installations such as compressor and valve sites, construction compounds and access routes, and the environmental topics being assessed.
Landowners and communities along the route will want to look at:
- where new-build sections run, and how the working width is reinstated after construction;
- where above-ground installations would be sited, since these are permanent and visible;
- crossings of roads, rivers and railways, and whether trenchless methods are proposed;
- safety distances and how hydrogen pipelines are assessed compared with natural gas.
Route options are often developed with constraint mapping of the kind described in our article on GIS-led route selection.
Engineering work during FEED
The FEED phase is where many of the decisions that shape construction are fixed. Engineers will be settling design pressure and diameter, the split between repurposed and new pipe, compressor needs, the locations of block valves and pigging facilities, and the inspection strategy for converted lines. Ground investigation, ecological surveys and traffic studies along the corridor feed the environmental statement. Decisions made now about materials and inspection access will affect both the construction cost and the long-term integrity of a network intended to run for decades.
Uncertainties to keep in view
The project's pace depends on hydrogen supply and demand appearing along the route. Producers and industrial users need confidence that the pipeline will exist before they commit, and the pipeline needs customers to justify investment. Government business models and the price control are designed to break that circle, but final investment decisions are still some way off.
For now, the key dates are the consultation, expected before the end of 2026 if the March timetable holds, and the DCO application in December 2028. Anyone with land or interests along the corridor should register for updates through the project's consultation channels when they open.