Oil and gas firm Essar has launched a joint venture with technology company Progressive Energy to build a hydrogen hub at the Stanlow manufacturing complex in northwest England. The two firms have formed a joint venture, called Vertex Hydrogen, to pursue the venture.

The blue hydrogen facility will form part of the Hynet low-carbon cluster and aims to produce a total of 1GW/yr of hydrogen across two units from 2026. 

Waste fuel gases from Essar’s complex will be combined with natural gas as feedstocks for steam methane reforming, with carbon dioxide captured and stored underground offshore in Liverpool Bay by Hynet partner Italy’s Eni.

“Essar is massively committed to investing in the energy transition” Ruia, Essar

Hydrogen from the hub will provide low-carbon energy to replace fossil fuels in industry across the Hynet region including to India’s Tata Chemicals Europe, glass firms Encirc and Glass Futures, power company Intergen, chemicals firms Solvay and Ingevity, industrial aluminium company Novelis and packaging company Saica Paper.

A total investment of approximately £1bn ($1.3bn) will be committed to deliver the hydrogen production hub.

“Essar is massively committed to investing in the energy transition and is building a portfolio of companies in this space,” says Essar chairman Prashant Ruia.

“Vertex Hydrogen is a central component of that vision, which will be instrumental in helping create a hydrogen future for northwest England and northeast Wales.”

The UK government chose Hynet as one of the “track one” projects that will receive government funding and become operational by 2026.

Inovyn, a subsidiary of UK chemicals firm Ineos, is planning to develop 19 salt caverns for hydrogen storage as part of the Hynet cluster, with a capacity of 1.3TWh.

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Author: Tom Young