Plans by Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor for a new hydrogen plant on the Humber have received backing from companies such as British Gas owner Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA) and chemicals group Ineos.
Equinor submitted plans to the government on Friday for the planned H2H Saltend hydrogen plant, which would produce 600MW of low carbon hydrogen.
It has signed agreements with Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA), Ineos, Pensana, Triton Power, Vivergo and Vital Energi to explore using hydrogen from the Saltend plant. It is hoping to start production by 2026-27.
The Norwegian energy giant is part of the East Coast Cluster, a group of industrial companies around Hull and Middlesbrough which has been prioritised by the government for support to develop carbon capture networks.
It is looking to bring H2H Saltend forward, entering it into the government’s latest competitive cluster sequencing process.
Countries all over the world are looking to switch to hydrogen from gas in an effort to cut carbon emissions.
Switching from gas to hydrogen would lead to a 30% reduction in emissions in the cluster around the Saltend site, according to Equinor.
“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," said Equinor executive vice president Irene Rummelhoff.
"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.”
David Brooks, chief executive of Ineos Acetyls, said: “At Ineos, we believe that achieving net zero by 2050 is only possible by significantly increasing the use of hydrogen.”
Martin Scargill, managing director of Centrica’s gas storage business, said moving towards using hydrogen at its Easington terminal would “pave the way to provide large-scale, flexible, low carbon energy storage solutions for the UK”.