Equinor submits flagship Humber hydrogen project for government phasing competition

The plan is backed by six prospective industrial operators who have signed varying agreements for the development and commercialisation of the project.

Equinor has formally submitted plans for its 'Hydrogen to Humber (H2H) Saltend' hydrogen production facility into phase two of the Government's Cluster Sequencing Process, supported by a series of co-operation agreements with prospective regional hydrogen users, which could be a world first and a catalyst for the Humber to achieve net zero.

H2H Saltend is Equinor's flagship 600 megawatts low carbon hydrogen production plant with carbon capture, located in Saltend, to the east of Hull. The Humber region is the most carbon intensive industrial cluster in the UK and H2H Saltend could enable industries at Saltend Chemicals Park and the East Yorkshire area to reduce CO₂ emissions by nearly one million tonnes annually, representing a 30% reduction in the Saltend Chemicals Park's total current emissions.

The plan is backed by six prospective industrial operators who have signed varying agreements for the development and commercialisation of the project, including potential future hydrogen supply. Fuel switching from natural gas to low carbon hydrogen would support decarbonisation of the Humber region and further accelerate the development of what could be a world first-of-a-kind hydrogen value chain project.

• Centrica Storage operates the Easington gas storage site in East Yorkshire and offshore platforms in the North Sea. Fuel switching from gas to hydrogen can help to reduce its emissions at Easington.
• INEOS Acetyls supplies chemicals for a wide range of downstream industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, paints, adhesives and packaging from its site at Saltend Chemicals Park. Using hydrogen instead of fossil fuels within its processes can reduce its emissions and produce lower carbon chemicals for wider use in the economy or for export.
• Pensana is in the process of establishing the UK's first independent and sustainable rare earths processing facility at Saltend Chemicals Park. This will support a range of industries vital to meeting the country's Net Zero ambitions, including Electric Vehicles and offshore wind. Utilising Hydrogen in the processing of end-of-life permanent magnets allows low energy recovery of the critical rare earths to be reused in this important supply chain.
• Triton Power operates Saltend Power Station, currently natural gas-fired and providing power and steam primarily to the Chemicals Park. By switching from fossil fuels to low carbon hydrogen it can accelerate the decarbonisation of the Park and its other users.
• Vital Energi is the energy services provider to the Yorkshire Energy Park, a proposed energy and technology park located within the Humber Freeport Zone. Using hydrogen within its electricity generation, heating and cooling can contribute to a low carbon park facility, helping to attract environmentally conscious companies.
• Vivergo Fuels is a renewable bioethanol fuel producer based at Saltend Chemicals Park. Its bioethanol will be blended with petrol to create E10 fuel, when the plant reopens in early 2022. They will be collaborating with Equinor on assessing the potential for hydrogen to be used as a low carbon fuel alternative to natural gas within the drying of its co-produced animal feed.

Equinor's CEO Anders Opedal and Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice president MMP, visiting Saltend Chemicals Park.

Beyond these initial off-takers, the low carbon hydrogen could also be used much wider, helping to decarbonise multiple sectors such as heavy industry, transport, heating and pharmaceuticals across the Humber region.

The submission has also been accompanied by 23 letters of support from organisations across the region including MPs, local authorities, LEPs, business and trade bodies, educational institutions and diversity groups.

It also coincides with the signing of an agreement with px Group, owner and operator of Saltend Chemicals Park, confirming the project location.

H2H Saltend is the kick-starter project for the wider Zero Carbon Humber scheme, a UKRI-supported partnership of twelve organisations committed to making the Humber the world's first net zero industrial cluster by 2040.

It is also the essential building block for Equinor's 'Hydrogen to Humber' ambitions which seeks to establish at least 1.8 Gigawatts of production in the region by 2030, over one third of the Government's UK-wide target. In partnership with SSE Thermal, Equinor is planning to develop the world's first at-scale 100% hydrogen power station at Keadby in Lincolnshire and a proposed hydrogen storage facility at Aldbrough in East Yorkshire. In partnership with gas distribution network operator Cadent, Equinor recently announced plans for potential hydrogen town trials in northern Lincolnshire, in line with the Government's ambition to decarbonise domestic heating.

In October the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announced that the East Coast Cluster, of which Zero Carbon Humber is the largest regional industrial cluster, was one of two successful national bids in Phase One of its Cluster Sequencing Process. This allows individual decarbonisation projects within the cluster to enter Phase Two. Submissions closed on 21^st January and a result is expected around May 2022.

Equinor has also submitted three other projects into the process. These include two new carbon capture power stations at Keadby and Peterhead, both developed together with SSE Thermal, as well as the Net Zero Teesside Power project which is developed in partnership with bp.

Irene Rummelhoff, executive vice president for Marketing, Midstream and Processing at Equinor, said:

"We are delighted to submit our formal plans to Government for our flagship H2H Saltend project, as well as three other low carbon projects across the UK. This shows the strength of ambition from Equinor in the UK, building on its considerable experience of similar projects internationally.

"H2H Saltend is an exciting ground-breaking project which will provide low carbon hydrogen to multiple industries in the Humber by 2026, and the demand for this is clear from the industrial operators' agreements we already have in place. Importantly, it is also a major step to a wider hydrogen economy which can reduce emissions across several sectors, act as a catalyst for greater inward investment and economic growth, and working with our partners, also ultimately result in a Zero Carbon Humber."

For more information contact:
Erildas Budraitis
[email protected]
+44 7779972659