BP PLC unveils plan for huge new hydrogen plant on Teeside

() has unveiled plans to build the largest hydrogen plant in the UK onTeeside, County Durham.

Producing up to 1Gw of ‘blue hydrogen’, which is derived from natural gas split into hydrogen and Co2, the project called H2 Teeside would capture and store up to two million tonnes Co2 per year, equivalent to capturing the emissions from the heating of one million UK households, said the energy giant. 

“With close proximity to North Sea storage sites, pipe corridors and existing operational hydrogen storage and distribution capabilities, the area is uniquely placed for H2Teesside to help lead a low carbon transformation, supporting jobs, regeneration and the revitalisation of the surrounding area,” it added in a statement.

Dev Sanyal, BP’s executive vice president of gas and low carbon energy said:  “Clean hydrogen is an essential complement to electrification on the path to net zero. Blue hydrogen, integrated with carbon capture and storage, can provide the scale and reliability needed by industrial processes.

“It can also play an essential role in decarbonising hard-to-electrify industries and driving down the cost of the energy transition.” 

H2Teesside would be integrated with the region’s already-planned Net Zero Teesside (NZT) and Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) carbon capture use and storage (CCUS) projects, both of which are led by BP  it said.

A feasibility study is already underway said the oil and gas giant with a final decision to be taken in 2024 and first production potentially in 2027.

An MOU has already been signed with Venator, one of the largest global producers of titanium dioxide pigments over the supply over the supply of clean hydrogen to its flagship Teesside plant. 

An agreement has also been signed with Northern Gas Networks (NGN), the gas distributor for the North of England, to work together to initiate decarbonisation of the gas networks in the UK. 

Another MOU has also been signed with the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) to explore the potential for green hydrogen in the region, including the development of Teesside as the UK’s first hydrogen transport hub,

BP’s new chief executive Bernard Looney has made a commitment that the hydrocarbons business be cut by around 40% over the next ten years.

This includes a US$5bn a year renewables investment programme, targeting a 20-fold increase in generation capacity.

That initiative has already seen the acquisition of a US wind power operation, the launch of a solar power company and an acceleration of hydrogen fuel ventures.

Boris Johnson, meanwhile, has promised that the UK will develop 5GW of hydrogen production by 2030.