Norwegian state-owned oil company Equinor has tripled its planned hydrogen production capacity in the UK to 1.8GW.
Chief executive Anders Opedal made the announcement at a meeting in Oslo between the UK’s business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and Norwegian energy minister Tina Bru.
Equinor had already revealed plans to construct a 600MW autothermal reformer in Saltend to produce so-called blue hydrogen by splitting apart natural gas and capturing the resulting carbon dioxide emissions.
H2H Saltend would be the anchor project for a hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) pipeline network proposed by Equinor and National Grid Ventures as part of the Zero Carbon Humber scheme to create a decarbonised industrial cluster in the region. The hydrogen would be supplied to the Saltend chemical park and blended with natural gas to fuel Triton Power’s 1.2GW Saltend combined-cycle gas turbine plant.
Equinor now plans to build a further 1.2GW of hydrogen production capacity, primarily to fuel the 900MW Keadby Hydrogen plant unveiled by SSE and Equinor in April, which they claim will be the world’s first large-scale power station to be fuelled entirely by hydrogen.
“Without CCS and hydrogen, at scale, there is no viable path to net zero and realising the Paris goals,” said Opedal.
“Our low-carbon projects in the UK build on our own industrial experience and will play a major role in setting the UK’s industrial heartlands in a leading position. The projects will also contribute to provide hydrogen and low carbon solutions to three to five industrial clusters by 2035.”
In a joint statement released following their meeting, Kwarteng and Bru said: “Energy is at the core of the close relationship between the United Kingdom and Norway. We are now embarking on a fresh, exciting chapter, establishing a new phase of cross-border energy cooperation.
“We are celebrating the completion this month of the construction of the North Sea Link interconnector, which joins together our nations’ world-class electricity grids for the first time. Trading over the interconnector is scheduled to start later this year.”
“We are also announcing that the UK and Norway are close to concluding a historic bilateral treaty on electricity interconnection, which will set out our shared principles for maximising the mutual benefits of efficient electricity trading,” they added.
“The treaty will also set out commitments to co-operate on electricity infrastructure between our countries, including further interconnection and infrastructure which combines cross-border transmission with offshore wind generation in the North Sea, where we have significant mutual interests.”