The three firms today (May 22) announced the plans at the UK’s Parliament, revealing intentions to transform one of the six main gas terminals in the UK.
Encompassing exiting plans by Equinor and Centra to deliver a multi-stage green and blue hydrogen production facility at the Easington gas terminal, the trio will look to displace current natural gas demand.
With detailed engineering studies already complete, the H2H Easington projects could produce up to 1.2GW of blue hydrogen and up to 1GW of green hydrogen.
Read more: Centrica, Equinor sign agreement to explore low-carbon hydrogen hub in UK
Proposals for the green hydrogen plant have already been submitted to the UK Government as part of its Hydrogen Allocation Round two (HAR2), which would provide production subsidies.
If successful, the partners have said the electrolytic system would be operational by early 2029.
Additionally, the companies plan to explore developing a 45km dedicated hydrogen pipeline between H2H Easington and Equinor’s proposed H2H Saltend hydrogen production facility and to Equinor and SSE Thermal’s planned hydrogen storage facility in Aldbrough.
Dan Sadler, Director for Hydrogen at Equinor’s UK Low Carbon Solutions, said the “unique opportunity” to link the sites would create the foundations for an expanding hydrogen economy.
“We know that the UK will need to explore all possible options to meet its Net Zero target and these projects will support the country’s decarbonisation plans while creating jobs and certainty for the region’s industry in the future,” Martin Scargill, Managing Director of Centrica Energy Storage.
John Johnson, Director of Development at SSE Thermal, said the Humber Hydrogen Hub could be a “key enabler” for UK hydrogen.
However, the plans come after Equinor and SSE Renewables scrapped intentions to produce hydrogen from a 3.6GW offshore wind farm on the Dogger Bank.
Read more: Plans dropped for one of the UK’s largest proposed hydrogen production projects
Originally slated as what would have been one of the UK’s largest green hydrogen projects, the companies opted to connect the wind farm to a 400kW substation as part of a National Grid upgrade.
SSE remains focused on UK green hydrogen despite project cancellations
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SSE remains focused on delivering UK green hydrogen projects despite the cancellation of two planned developments in 2024 alone, H2 View has been told.
SSE had planned to establish a green hydrogen production facility at Scotland’s Gordonbush onshore wind farm.
Having applied for the UK Government’s hydrogen allocation round one (HAR1) to secure subsidies per kilogramme of hydrogen produced from Gordonbush, the energy firm pulled the plug on the project after failing to secure funding.
Originally planned to produce 2,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year using wind power, SSE had said the hydrogen production capacity in combination with batteries would help grid balance.
Despite the government’s HAR2 set to open soon, the firm opted to drop the project altogether. But Helen Sanders, Head of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at SSE Thermal, told H2 View, the missed funding was just one part of the decision…
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