Essar Energy Transition (EET) Hydrogen is in the final stages of negotiations with the United Kingdom (UK) government to develop its flagship HPP1 low-carbon hydrogen plant at the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
EET has signed a statement of principles with the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The company is expecting a final decision and start of construction later in the year, it said in a recent news release.
The HPP1 plant will have an initial production capacity of 350 megawatts (MW) and will capture around 600,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, which is the equivalent of taking around 250,000 cars off the road, EET said. The company is targeting to develop 4 gigawatts (GW) of low-carbon hydrogen by 2030.
The hydrogen will be delivered to industrial businesses across the North West of England to decarbonize their operations, protecting jobs and driving economic growth. The project is the cornerstone of the HyNet cluster and is essential for the cluster to begin construction later in the year, according to the release. The hydrogen will be used locally by the Essar refinery and other major manufacturers in the region, including Tata Chemicals, Encirc and Pilkington.
“We have already halved our emissions from 1990 levels, and hydrogen will play a vital role in the UK’s journey towards net zero by providing businesses large and small with cleaner energy in the future”, UK Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance Lord Callanan said.
“By moving into final negotiations with the Ellesmere project, we are working to deliver our ambition of up to 10 GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity, in an industry expected to support up to 12,000 jobs by 2030”, Callanan added.
“Today’s statement of principles is a great outcome for both EET and the UK”, EET Managing Partner Tony Fountain said. “Scaling hydrogen capacity is essential to decarbonizing heavy industries. This is an important step in our ambitious decarbonization plan to transform our business and the North West. We appreciate the Government’s partnership which will contribute to protecting skilled jobs in the region and ensuring our industries remain competitive”.
“This is a critical milestone for EET Hydrogen and the hydrogen sector in the UK. We are very proud to be leading the way and look forward to starting construction later this year”, EET CEO Joe Seifert said.
EET plans for the second plant, HPP2, to have a capacity of 1,000 MW.
HyNet Northwest is a low carbon and hydrogen energy project targeted at unlocking a low carbon economy for the Northwest and North Wales. It is one of two government-selected Track 1 clusters for industrial decarbonization. HyNet is supported by fantastic geology with a natural end-of-life gas field in Liverpool Bay ideal for carbon dioxide storage and huge salt caverns for hydrogen storage in Northwich.
HyNet aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10 million metric tons per year by 2030, the equivalent of taking 4 million cars off the road. HyNet is also home to a substantial industrial base, reported to be the largest in the UK by manufacturing employment, according to EET’s website.
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