Energy group BP aims to build Britain's largest hydrogen plant by 2030, it said on March 18, as part of the country's push to boost use of the fuel and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The Teesside plant in northern England will have capacity of up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of so-called blue hydrogen, about a fifth of Britain's target of 5 GW of hydrogen capacity by the end of the decade.
Blue hydrogen is produced by converting natural gas into hydrogen and storing the CO2 emissions from its production.
BP has begun a feasibility study on the project to explore technologies that could capture up to 98% of carbon emissions from the hydrogen production process. The Teesside project, dubbed H2Teesside, is expected to capture up to two million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year and pipe it into storage below the North Sea, BP said.
H2Teesside will be linked with Net Zero Teesside (NZT), a planned industrial zone that will also be linked to a carbon capture and storage project. The hydrogen could also be used for heating residential homes in the region or for transportation, BP added.
Governments and energy companies are placing large bets on clean hydrogen playing a leading role in efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions, but its future uses and costs are highly uncertain.
Britain on March 17 announced an industrial decarbonization strategy aiming to cut emissions from industry by two thirds in 15 years through projects including carbon capture and hydrogen.
“Clean hydrogen is an essential complement to electrification on the path to net-zero carbon emissions,” Dev Sanyal, BP's head of gas and low carbon energy, said.
“Blue hydrogen...can also play an essential role in decarbonizing hard-to-electrify industries and driving down the cost of the energy transition.”
The company will make a final investment decision on the H2Teeside project in early 2024 and production could begin in 2027 or earlier, it said.
Norwegian energy company Equinor last year announced plans to construct a blue hydrogen plant in the Humber region in northern England.
Recommended Reading
Exclusive: Renewables Won't Promise Affordable Security without NatGas
2024-03-25 - Greg Ebel, president and CEO of midstream company Enbridge, says renewables needs backing from natural gas to create a "nice foundation" for affordable and sustainable industrial growth, in this Hart Energy Exclusive interview.
ARC Resources Adds Ex-Chevron Gas Chief to Board, Tallies Divestments
2024-02-11 - Montney Shale producer ARC Resources aims to sign up to 25% of its 1.38 Bcf/d of gas output to long-term LNG contracts for higher-priced sales overseas.
Exclusive: Andrew Dittmar Expects Increased Public M&A in 2024
2024-02-15 - In this Hart Energy LIVE Exclusive, Andrew Dittmar, Enverus Intelligence's senior vice president, compares 2023 consolidation to what he expects in 2024, including more public to public deals.
Exclusive: Despite Uncertainty, NatGas Balances Out
2024-03-04 - McKinsey and Co.'s Luciano Di Fiori says the natural gas market is capable of balancing itself out—despite LNG permit approval pauses, midstream constraints and dependence on oil production—in this Hart Energy LIVE Exclusive interview with Editorial Director Jordan Blum.
Exclusive: Activists Sending 'Wrong Signal' on US LNG
2024-02-23 - Anne Bradbury, the CEO of the American Exploration & Production Council, says the Biden administration's pause on U.S. LNG export approvals sends a wrong message about the importance of LNG to the American economy and the climate, in this Hart Energy LIVE Exclusive interview.