United Kingdom – Vertex Hydrogen, a joint venture between Essar Oil UK and Progressive Energy, has released a report detailing the construction of the UK’s first large-scale low-carbon hydrogen plant.
As part of the HyNet cluster in the North West of England and North Wales, low carbon hydrogen will be used to decarbonize industry.
Essar, Progressive Energy, Kent, and Johnson Matthey, consortium partners, have released a report to share insights into how they are designing and developing the groundbreaking hydrogen production plant. Hydrogen is critical to the UK’s future energy mix, as it provides a low-carbon alternative to heavy-duty fuel.
At Essar’s Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, the plant, which will be owned and operated by Vertex Hydrogen, will be engineered by Kent and will use Johnson Matthey’s best-in-class Low Carbon Hydrogen (LCH) technology. The government’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (‘BEIS’) hydrogen supply competition funded the Front End Engineering Design (FEED).
Low-carbon hydrogen
The report details how natural gas and refinery fuel gas will be converted into low-carbon hydrogen while carbon dioxide is captured and stored permanently beneath the seabed in Liverpool Bay. The hub will produce 1 gigawatt of low-carbon hydrogen, with the first line set to begin production in the mid-2020s.
Low-carbon hydrogen will be used to replace fossil fuels in industry across North West England and North Wales, assisting the UK in meeting its net-zero emissions targets and positioning the hydrogen economy as a catalyst for low-carbon growth. Chemicals, ceramics, paper, glass, and flexible power generation companies in the region have already committed to reducing their carbon footprint by using low-carbon hydrogen from HyNet. Tata Chemicals Europe, Encirc, InterGen, Solvay, Ingevity, Novelis, Pilkington Glass, and Saica Paper are among the companies involved.
HyNet cluster
The report comes after Vertex submitted its plans to BEIS last month, as part of the government’s Cluster Sequencing process, to build the UK’s first low-carbon hydrogen production hub with the HyNet cluster.
The HyNet low carbon cluster, the UK’s leading industrial decarbonisation cluster, will be home to the UK’s first low carbon hydrogen plant. HyNet is critical for the North West of England and North Wales to meet their net zero targets by 2050 and help combat climate change. HyNet aspires to contribute significantly to the Government’s goal of producing 5GW of low-carbon hydrogen for power, transportation, industry, and homes by 2030.
