Page 13 - EurOil Week 03 2021

EurOil PERFORMANCE EurOil

UK, Germany progress blue

hydrogen plans

EUROPE ESSAR Oil and Progressive Energy signed a Thyssenkrupp has teamed up with transmission
memorandum last week on working together to system operator OGE and Norwegian oil firm
Hydrogen is pitched as produce blue hydrogen from the former’s Stanlow Equinor on supplying its Duisburg steelworks
a way of decarbonising refinery in north-west England. Meanwhile, Ger- with blue hydrogen, it announced on January 12.
sections of industry man steelmaker Thyssenkrupp is working on a The trio have concluded that the plan is
that would otherwise plan to run one of its steelworks on blue hydrogen. technically feasible after completing a study,
be hard to make clean The UK agreement marks a step forward for Thyssenkrupp said. They will continue flesh-
using renewables. the HyNet hydrogen project near Liverpool, led ing out details ahead of taking investment
by Progressive and gas distributor Cadent. decisions.
Blue hydrogen will be produced from natural Blue hydrogen will enable the Duisburg
gas and fuel gases at the 300,000 barrel per day plant to produce steel on a nearly climate-neu-
(bpd) Essar-owned plant, the company said in tral basis in the short and mid-term. At a later
a statement. Meanwhile, the CO2 produced as stage this can be replaced with green hydrogen,
a by-product will be captured and transported once it is available in sufficient quantity, Thys-
offshore for storage in reservoirs in Liverpool senkrupp said.
Bay. The hydrogen will cover Essar’s own energy “The partners are convinced that blue
needs and those of other industries in the area, hydrogen as a reliable and available technol-
and can serve as fuel for buses, trains and heavy ogy has the potential to ramp up the Euro-
goods vehicles. It can also heat homes and gen- pean hydrogen market,” the steel producer
erate power, Essar said. said. “Especially taking into consideration the
The initiative will help Stanlow become the recent decision by the EU to set more ambi-
UK’s first net-zero emissions refinery, Essar Oil tious climate targets for 2030, blue hydrogen
UK CEO Stein Ivar Bye said, adding it would can play a significant role going forward as a
remove 3mn tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year viable and early source for nearly climate-neu-
from the air. tral hydrogen in large quantities and therefore
“With the support from the government to in achieving these goals.”
establish the appropriate business incentives, Advocates for blue hydrogen point to the
together with Progressive Energy, we are com- fact that it is considerably cheaper than green
mitted to undertaking the development and the hydrogen. Its use will help establish the neces-
financing of its construction,” the company head sary infrastructure and market to pave the way
said. “Hydrogen has a central role to play in our for green hydrogen’s widespread adoption once
low-carbon energy solution. We are demon- the latter’s cost has fallen, they argue.
strating that the industry is committed to play- The study by Thyssenkrupp estimates that
ing its part of the UK’s transformation hydrogen blue hydrogen could be delivered to the Duis-
strategy.” burg site at a cost of €58 ($70.7) per MWh,
Many European nations are developing green assuming gas prices average €23 per MWh in the
hydrogen as the primarily means of decarbon- long term. The group have identified three pos-
ising sections of industry that would otherwise sible sites for hydrogen production: one on the
be hard to make clean using renewables. Green Dutch coast in Eemshaven and two more on the
hydrogen is derived from water through the pro- German coast. Output should range between 1.4
cess of electrolysis, powered by wind and solar and 2.7 GW, the steelmaker said. CO2 emissions
energy. However, the UK has primarily focused can be captured and shipped to the Equinor-led
on blue hydrogen, in order to capitalise on its Northern Lights project off Norway for storage.
domestic natural gas supply. But there are other options available, including
HyNet is one of several major blue hydro- the Netherlands’ Porthos scheme.
gen projects underway in the UK. It is expected The project could be operational as early as
to produce 3 TWh of hydrogen annually from 2027, stated Thyssenkrupp, but it warned of reg-
2025, rising to 9 TWh at a later stage, after a sec- ulatory obstacles that would need to be cleared
ond production facility is built. Essar noted that before development can be approved. There
this was enough fuel to cover Liverpool’s entire needs to be clarification in Germany and the EU
heating needs. The combined cost of the project’s on rules governing the conversion of gas pipe-
two phases is GBP750mn ($1bn). lines to hydrogen and the transport of hydrogen
independent from its production technology, it
Decarbonising German steel said. Furthermore, Germany and the Nether-
In contrast to the UK, Germany is heavily pri- lands need to align grid development and trans-
oritising green hydrogen production. However, port arrangements. ™

Week 03 21•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13