The energy sector is where the largest share of new UK process plant is currently being designed, and where the least design precedent exists.

The energy sector is where the largest share of new UK process plant is currently being designed, and where the least design precedent exists. Hydrogen at scale, chemical recycling, sustainable aviation fuel and carbon capture are all being engineered against a regulatory framework that is still being written around them. That combination, novel technology and moving compliance, is where front-end engineering earns its cost several times over.

Projex Solutions provides multi-disciplinary engineering design, process safety studies and EPCM project delivery to energy and low-carbon projects across the UK. We work from feasibility and FEED through detailed design to construction management, and we build the regulatory case alongside the technical one because in this sector the two determine each other.

The pressures our energy clients are managing

Funding gates that demand a defined technical case. Hydrogen Allocation Rounds, the Hydrogen Production Business Model and the revenue certainty contracts created by the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Act 2026 all require a cost and technical case at a level of definition that concept work does not provide. FEED is not a formality here, it is the deliverable that unlocks the funding.

The UK Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard. Version 4, published in January 2026, sets a threshold of 20 gCO2e/MJ on a lower heating value basis. That is not a reporting exercise sitting outside the design. The emissions accounting boundary directly constrains process configuration, utility selection and energy integration.

CCUS is now formally regulated. The CCUS and Offshore Hydrogen Production (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026 came into force on 6 April 2026. Carbon dioxide pipelines in the fluid phase are now treated as major accident hazard pipelines under the Pipelines Safety Regulations. Worth noting precisely: COMAH applies to capture sites only where other dangerous substances exceed COMAH thresholds, so the assessment has to be done rather than assumed either way.

UK ETS and energy from waste. A voluntary monitoring, reporting and verification period opened on 1 January 2026 for energy from waste and waste incineration, covering advanced conversion technologies, non-mechanical recycling and SAF production above the Small Waste Incineration Plant thresholds. Mandatory MRV and full scheme dates are not yet confirmed. Most operators are not currently instrumented for the metering, sampling and biogenic fraction determination this requires.

COMAH and DSEAR. Hydrogen inventories, flammable liquid biofuel storage and dangerous substances on energy from waste sites bring COMAH 2015 and DSEAR 2002 into scope, with area classification to BS EN IEC 60079-10-1:2021 and EI 15 (5th edition, October 2024).

Environmental permitting. Chapter IV of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (as amended) governs waste incineration, with Small Waste Incineration Plant thresholds at 3 tonnes per hour for non-hazardous waste and 10 tonnes per day for hazardous.

Where we add value

Feasibility and FEED studies. Concept selection, options appraisal and front-end engineering developed to the definition a funding gate actually requires. We state the estimate accuracy band up front, from factored estimates at around ±50%, to reduced FEED at ±30%, to detailed FEED at ±10%.

Process safety for novel technology. HAZOP and HAZID facilitation where there is no established design precedent to fall back on, LOPA, and SIL determination and verification to BS EN 61511-1:2017+A1:2017. Novel process, experienced chairman.

Hazardous area classification to BS EN IEC 60079-10-1:2021 and EI 15 (5th edition), with CompEx-certified engineers, including hydrogen service where dispersion behaviour differs materially from hydrocarbons.

Permitting support. Building the technical case for environmental permit applications and variations alongside the design that has to satisfy it.

UK ETS readiness for energy from waste. Metering, sampling and biogenic fraction determination design for operators entering the voluntary MRV period.

Detailed multi-discipline design. Process, mechanical, electrical, control and instrumentation, and civil and structural, coordinated in-house.

3D laser scanning and modelling for retrofit and tie-in design on existing sites.

CDM 2015 duty holder support and EPCM delivery under ISO 9001:2015 certified project methodology.

Sub-sectors we work across

Low-carbon and energy projects draw on the same process engineering as the rest of our work, and several of our chemical sub-sectors sit directly alongside them.

Closely related: industrial gases, including hydrogen production, storage and distribution, and battery materials and electro-chemical processing.

See all the sectors and industries we work in

When clients typically call us

  • A funding gate requires FEED-level definition and a cost estimate that will survive scrutiny
  • A hydrogen, EfW or biorefinery concept needs turning into something buildable and permittable
  • CCUS retrofit brings pipeline major accident hazard duties that did not previously apply
  • A HAZOP is needed on novel technology where the team has no precedent to draw on
  • UK ETS voluntary MRV participation requires instrumentation the site does not currently have
  • An existing asset needs repurposing, and the tie-ins have to be designed against reality

Why energy clients work with Projex

We are a process engineering business first. In a sector with a great deal of enthusiasm and a shortage of delivery experience, that matters. The questions that decide whether a low-carbon project works are ordinary process engineering questions about energy integration, utilities, materials of construction and safe operation.

Our teams work from Brighouse in West Yorkshire and the Wilton Centre in Redcar, on Teesside, which places us within one of the UK’s most active clusters for hydrogen, CCUS and industrial decarbonisation.

We are certified to ISO 9001:2015, SafeContractor approved, and hold a Bronze EcoVadis sustainability rating.

Frequently asked questions

Do you work on hydrogen projects?
Yes, including area classification for hydrogen service, where dispersion and ignition behaviour differ materially from conventional hydrocarbons and cannot be assessed by analogy.

Can you take a concept through to a funding application?
Yes. Our feasibility and FEED work is scoped around the definition and estimate accuracy that funding gates require, rather than around a generic study format.

Does COMAH apply to a carbon capture site?
Only where dangerous substances other than the captured CO2 exceed COMAH thresholds. Since April 2026, however, fluid-phase CO2 pipelines are treated as major accident hazard pipelines under the Pipelines Safety Regulations, which is a separate and often overlooked duty.

Can you help with UK ETS readiness?
Yes. The voluntary MRV period that opened in January 2026 requires metering, sampling and biogenic fraction determination that most energy from waste operators are not currently set up to provide.

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