Equinor is advancing the development of its large-scale blue hydrogen plant that will be built in the Humber region, UK. The oil and gas major has awarded two huge contracts for its H2H Saltend hydrogen production project, located on the East Coast of England.
Relevant: Equinor Doubles Down On Carbon Capture And Hydrogen Efforts In The UK And US
The winner for both contracts is Linde Group – the Linde Engineering entity will be doing the front-end engineering design works for the blue hydrogen project, and group company BOC – part of Linde plc, is set to operate and maintain the facility for the first five years.
Both companies were part of a design competition, which included scope for engineering, procurement and construction of the plant.
“Linde is delighted to be playing a key role in the H2H Saltend project. With Linde Engineering’s technology and EPC capability and BOC’s proven operational expertise, strong regional presence and UK experience, we can together help decarbonize the Humber region and kick start the UK’s hydrogen economy,” said Jim Mercer, business president for BOC UK & Ireland.
H2H Saltend is a key hydrogen project for Equinor, part of its efforts to drive the low-carbon energy economy. It is a 600 MW hydrogen plant that will produce hydrogen with carbon capture technology integrated.
Relevant: First Large-scale Hydrogen Power Plants Confirmed
The project is part of the Zero Carbon Humber – a partnership between entities that aims to build the world’s first net zero industrial region. Zero Carbon Humber is also taking part in a larger decarbonization collaboration – the East Coast Cluster, along with Net Zero Teesside and Northern Endurance Partnership. The East Coast Cluster stands by removing 50% of the UK’s industrial cluster CO2 emissions.
The Yorkshire and Humber region is the largest and most carbon-intensive region in the UK, therefore, it is an attractive cluster for energy companies to start decarbonizing their large-scale operations. H2H Saltend is supposed to contribute to those efforts as about 95% of the emissions from hydrogen production will be captured and sequestered under the sea. Those emissions equate to around 1 million tons of CO2 eliminated annually.
