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New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Recent green hydrogen production news includes EET Fuels has commissioned a new hydrogen-ready furnace at Stanlow, in the UK; Statera Energy has received planning approval for a major green project in Aberdeenshire, Scotland; and Lhyfe has secured financing for four green hydrogen production sites in France and Germany.
EET commissions hydrogen-ready furnace at Stanlow refinery
EET Fuels, the trading name of Essar Oil (UK), has commissioned a new hydrogen-ready furnace at its Stanlow refinery site in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. The new furnace replaces three older units. It will be conventionally fuelled by refinery off gas (ROG), a mixture of the gases produced during the refining of crude oil, until 2028.
It will then transition to using 100% low-carbon hydrogen produced by EET Hydrogen’s HPP1 plant. That 350 MW facility will capture some 600,000 t/y of CO2 and produce blue hydrogen using Johnson Mathey LCH technology. Front end engineering design was completed in September 2021 and expected production start date is 2027.
HPP1 will be the UK’s first large-scale, low-carbon hydrogen production facility, located in the HyNet decarbonisation cluster. It will be connected to the Liverpool Bay CO2 transport and storage system, which reached financial close last month.
The new furnace reduces CO2 emissions at the Stanlow site by approximately 16,600 t/y, according to EET Fuels, with projected savings of around 200,000 t/y once hydrogen-fuelled. The company reports that the facility is ‘central’ to the goal of cutting 95% of its carbon emissions, some 2mn t/y, by 2030. It will also improve air quality and energy efficiency at Stanlow.
Planning approval secured for Scottish green hydrogen project
Meanwhile, Statera Energy has received planning approval from Aberdeenshire Council for what it claims will be the UK’s largest green hydrogen project, at 3 GW capacity.
Kintore Hydrogen will produce zero-carbon hydrogen from renewable energy, including from surplus power from Scottish wind farms that would otherwise be turned off to balance the grid. This could ‘save billpayers £billions in curtailment costs’, says Statera.
Said to be one of the largest projects of its kind in Europe, the first 500 MW of operational capacity is expected to be online by 2030. When operating at full capacity, Kintore Hydrogen could cut up to 1.4mn t/y of CO2 by displacing the use of natural gas, reports the company. It also says that the project ‘could deliver £400mn to the Aberdeenshire economy, supporting economic growth and the just transition in the region and in the UK’s major industrial clusters, like Grangemouth’. Some 3,000 jobs are expected to be created during Kintore Hydrogen’s construction and 300 permanent jobs once operational.
Tom Vernon, CEO Statera Energy, comments: ‘Over the coming years, the sheer volume of wind generation coming on to the system in the UK will make electrolysers critical for harnessing wind energy that would otherwise go to waste. Kintore Hydrogen is designed to fully capitalise on the potential that hydrogen has to offer. The location and scale of this project means it can make best use of surplus wind power, significantly lowering hydrogen production costs. It will help balance the grid, contribute to the UK’s energy security, and support the decarbonisation of the UK’s hard-to-abate industries and power sector.’
Green hydrogen financing first for Lhyfe
In other news, Lhyfe has secured €53mn of financing for the construction of four green hydrogen production sites located in France and Germany. It is the first project financing transaction of green hydrogen production sites for the company – and also reported to be a first of a kind in Europe.
The financed assets portfolio includes two sites that are already built – a site located in Buleon, north-west France, and one in Schwabisch Gmund, near Stuttgart in Germany – and two sites currently under construction in Le Cheylas, south-east France, and Croixrault in northern France. The four green hydrogen production sites will have a total installed electrolysis capacity of 30 MW.
