Page 10 - EurOil Week 08 2021

EurOil POLICY EurOil

Equinor, Engie to study

blue hydrogen chains

NORWAY NORWAY’S Equinor is teaming up with France’s the way for net zero in 2050.”
Engie to assess the potential production and Equinor is already involved in blue hydrogen
Equinor is a frontrunner marketing of blue hydrogen in north-west projects under the Zero Carbon Humber and
in blue hydrogen Europe. Net Zero Teesside initiatives in northern Eng-
technology in Europe. Hydrogen is classified as blue when it is land, and the H-Vision blue hydrogen scheme
derived from natural gas, with the use of pro- in the Netherlands. It also recently joined the
cesses such as steam methane reforming, and NortH2 green hydrogen project off the Dutch
when the CO2 released is captured and stored. coast, which aims to develop 4 GW of offshore
Equinor, which is already involved in several wind energy capacity to power electrolysers.
blue hydrogen projects in Europe, has signed a A potential blue hydrogen value chain in
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with north-west Europe would benefit from Equinor’s
Engie to investigate creating blue hydrogen value Northern Lights project in Norway, designed for
chains in Belgium, the Netherlands and France. European industry to store up to 5mn tonnes per
Discussions will start with potential customers, year (tpy) of CO2.
stakeholders and relevant authorities shortly, Another key way the Norwegian state com-
Equinor said on February 18. pany is looking to bring down its emissions is
Hydrogen is pitched as a solution for decar- the electrification of its offshore platforms. Also
bonising energy-intensive industries and other last week, it awarded a contract to Norway’s Aker
economic sectors that would be difficult to make Solutions to electrify two platforms at Norway’s
clean with renewables such as wind and power biggest gas field, Troll.
alone. But most European countries are focus- The contract will come into force once
ing on green hydrogen, produced from water Equinor takes a final investment decision (FID)
using clean energy-powered electrolysis, and on the project and it secures regulatory approval.
some have ruled out blue hydrogen completely It covers topside work at the Troll B and C plat-
because it is made using fossil fuels. forms, including the installation of equipment
However, supporters of blue hydrogen argue for receiving power from the mainland via cable,
that both technologies need to be treated equally, thereby lowering emissions. The platforms are
to give hydrogen energy the best chance of suc- currently powered by gas-fired generators.
cess. Blue hydrogen can be deployed more rap- Aker Solutions will carry out engineering,
idly and is cheaper, and therefore can create a procurement, construction and prefabrication of
functioning market for hydrogen energy ready the systems, and their installation. It will start the
for when the cost of green hydrogen has fallen work as soon as the contract is finalised and will
sufficiently. finish by the end of 2025. Earlier the company
“Engie and Equinor believe that it is essential was enlisted for front-end engineering design
to develop low-carbon and renewable hydro- (FEED) work for the project.
gen projects at scale in order to make it possible “Aker Solutions has extensive experience
for industrial customers to significantly reduce from delivering such low-carbon solutions, and
CO2 emissions before 2030,” Equinor said. “The we aim to be a leading contractor in this market,”
development of low-carbon and renewable CEO Kjetel Digre said in a statement.
hydrogen will accelerate the construction of new The company will book the contract in its
hydrogen infrastructure and the repurposing of first-quarter 2021 results, it said, putting the
current natural gas infrastructure, thus paving deal’s value at NOK2-3bn ($237-356mn). ™

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