International energy giant Equinor is tripling its ambitions for low-carbon hydrogen production in the Humber.
The commitment follows a meeting between 海角视频 Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and Norway’s Energy Minister Tina Bru in Oslo, at which the Norwegian company’s president and chief executive, Anders Opedal, underlined its 1.8GW objective.
Equinor is a leading partner in the plan to decarbonise Britain’s largest emitting industrial region.
Zero Carbon Humber brings together several projects, with Saltend hydrogen production facilities proposed to be at the heart of the major infrastructure undertaking, that will see dual pipelines to deliver the fuel switch from gas and take away any C02.
Together they could deliver more than half of the 海角视频’s 5GW ambition by 2030.
Mr Opedal said: “Without carbon capture and storage and hydrogen, at scale, there is no viable path to net zero and realising the Paris goals. Our low-carbon projects in the 海角视频 build on our own industrial experience and will play a major role in setting the 海角视频’s industrial heartlands in a leading position. The projects will also contribute to provide hydrogen and low carbon solutions to three to five industrial clusters by 2035. We will do so by working together with governments, partners and customers.”
Equinor is leading the H2H Saltend project, a first-of-a-kind 600 MW gas reformer that will produce hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture. This will enable fuel switching by industrial users at Saltend Chemicals Park and the onsite Saltend Cogeneration Power Station switching to a hydrogen fuel blend. It will reduce CO2 emissions from Saltend by nearly one million tonnes annually.
The increased hydrogen ambitions involve a further 1,200 MW of low-carbon hydrogen production, principally to fuel the Keadby Hydrogen power station, recently revealed.
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Equinor is co-developing the project with SSE Thermal, which could be the world’s first large-scale 100 per cent hydrogen-fuelled power station.
Those behind it - as a gas-fired carbon capture plant is also brought forward through planning now - say that with appropriate policy mechanisms in place, Keadby Hydrogen power station could come online before the end of the decade. It is seen as key to supporting variable renewable power production, ensuring reliable access to electricity.
With its partners in the Northern Endurance Partnership, Equinor is also developing the offshore infrastructure to transport and store CO2 from projects in the wider 海角视频 East Coast Cluster.
This month will see construction completed on the North Sea Link interconnector, joining together the two nations' electricity grids from Blyth, Northumberland, with a bilateral treaty governing trading close to being concluded.
In a joint statement, the respective government leads said: "Energy is at the core of the close relationship between the United Kingdom and Norway. We are now embarking on a fresh, exciting chapter, establishing a new phase of cross-border energy cooperation.
"This is an important milestone for both our countries and an achievement that will spur on the North Sea’s pioneering progress in reducing carbon emissions, all while helping us to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Today’s commitment builds on what is already a transformative partnership between our two countries, making use of the extraordinary expertise we hold within the clean energy revolution to help fight climate change and create new business opportunities.
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"This includes the development of carbon capture and storage – underpinned by our bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in November 2018, the development of hydrogen technologies, and the opening up of our seas to unleash what is a ground-breaking new era of offshore wind power."
During his visit to Norway, Mr Kwarteng - well versed on the Humber’s Net Zero credentials - also visited Fortum’s waste-to-energy plant in Oslo. Subject to financing, this will be one of the two first industrial sites to capture and ship CO2 to be stored by Northern Lights, a joint venture between Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies to transport and store captured CO2 permanently under the seabed. The facilities are under construction and will be operational in 2024.
Northern Lights is a major part of the full CCS value chain initiative by the Norwegian state called Longship and is an important step in delivering Equinor’s corporate ambitions. Initial capacity will be 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year. Subject to market demand, the capacity can be increased to five million or more in later stages of development.
A further Humber link exists there with anaerobic digestion specialist Future Biogas looking to ship captured carbon across the North Sea, ahead of storage opening up from the 海角视频.