New hydrogen energy project announced in UK Parliament by leading energy companies

A brand-new collaboration, called the Humber Hydrogen Hub, will consist of multiple low carbon hydrogen projects on the north bank of the Humber, with further plans to link to other areas of the region. This announcement revealed that leading energy companies Equinor, Centrica and SSE Thermal will be working together over a series of renewable energy projects, including the transformation of the Easington gas tunnel.

One of the proposals that was stated to an audience at Parliament was H2H Easington, in which Centrica and Equinor will deliver a multi-stage green and blue hydrogen production facility that will scale over time as the hydrogen economy advances. Detailed engineering studies have suggested that the projects could produce up to 1.2GW of blue hydrogen production and up to 1GW of green hydrogen production at Easington, with these projects under way by the end of the decade.

Martin Scargill, Managing Director of Centrica Energy Storage, stated: “These projects will bring huge benefits to the Humber as we move forward to net zero. Working together, Centrica, Equinor and SSE Thermal will deliver this innovative, world leading, regional hydrogen system, that in time could see Rough connected to provide the UK with large scale, clean energy storage. We know that the UK will need to explore all possible options to meet its net zero target and these projects will support the country’s decarbonisation plans while creating jobs and certainty for the region’s industry in the future.”

To help the advancement of these plans, proposals for a green hydrogen electrolyser have been submitted to Government as part of the second Hydrogen Allocation Round process. If this proposal was to be accepted, it would be operational by 2029 and would fuel switch off-takers within Easington terminal, reducing the CO2 footprint of the site by a staggering 100,000 tonnes per year.

This proposed transition would also protect many existing jobs within the gas terminal, in addition to creating new jobs and supply chain opportunities in the future. Over a 35-year period, it has been estimated that the economic impact of the Easington hydrogen proposals will be up to £1.5 billion of gross value added, supporting thousands of jobs in the area.

The partnership between Equinor and Centrica will also explore a dedicated hydrogen pipeline that would link H2H Easington to Equinor’s proposed H2H Saltend hydrogen production facility. It would also connect Equinor to SSE Thermal’s proposed storage facility at Aldbrough on the East Yorkshire coast. Collectively, these projects form the Humber Hydrogen Hub.

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Sources

https://www.equinor.com/news/uk/h2heasingtonhumberhydrogenhublaunch

https://energycentral.com/c/og/launch-new-humber-hydrogen-hub-projects-parliament