The UK government has shortlisted four large-scale blue hydrogen projects to join the country’s first two low-carbon industrial clusters in the north of England in the mid-2020s.

Blue hydrogen projects under development by BP, Norway’s Equinor, Aberdeen-headquartered Kellas and Vertex Hydrogen—a joint venture between UK-focused downstream firm Essar Oil and low-carbon energy developer Progressive Energy—have progressed to the due diligence stage of the government’s phase 2 cluster sequencing process, potentially qualifying them for government funding to join the “track one” East Coast and Hynet clusters.

The government shortlisted a total of 20 projects to join the two clusters, spanning industrial carbon capture, power generation with carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen.

In the hydrogen category, the shortlisted projects for the East Coast cluster are BP’s 1GW H2Teesside, Kellas’ 1GW H2Northeast and Equinor’s 600MW H2H Saltend. The HyNet Hydrogen Production Project developed by Vertex Hydrogen is shortlisted to join the Hynet cluster.

20 – Total number of projects shortlisted

Equinor also made the shortlist with bids for two new gas-fired power stations with carbon capture at Keadby, developed with utility SSE Thermal, and in Teesside, developed in partnership with BP.

“Fantastic news that the UK government has selected three of our pioneering CCS and hydrogen projects. They will help decarbonise vital and carbon-intensive industries, preserve existing jobs and create new ones, as well as provide local supply chain opportunities,” says Grete Tveit, senior vice president for low-carbon solutions at Equinor.

Vertex Hydrogen, which is developing its project at Essar’s Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port, also welcomed the government’s support.

“We see this announcement as further support to the hydrogen sector as the UK positions itself as a global leader in this emerging industry,” says Vertex Hydrogen CEO Joe Seifert.

Missing out

Two major blue hydrogen projects backed by Shell and German energy company Uniper, which had made an initial list of 40 qualifying projects earlier this year, failed to make the shortlist.

The first is Project Cavendish—a 700MW project at the Isle of Grain near London under development by a consortium which includes Uniper, SSE Thermal, Shell and the UK’s National Grid. The second is the 730MW Humber Hub Blue Project at Killingholme in Lincolnshire, developed by Uniper and Shell.

The two firms will continue to progress plans for Humber Hub Blue project by moving ahead with pre-front end engineering and design and site evaluations, Uniper says. “We now look forward to greater clarity from the government on the process and timings for track-2 funding, so hydrogen production projects such as the Humber Hub Blue can develop further for deployment in the 2020s. We will continue to explore all potential avenues to achieve this goal,” the company tells Hydrogen Economist.

“In regards to Project Cavendish, we are currently evaluating the impact of the decision on project planning together with our partners,” it adds.

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Author: Stuart Penson