TIWN
New Delhi, Sep 29 (TIWN): Essar Oil UK, which operates the Stanlow refiner in the UK, on Wednesday announced the signing of an agreement for the supply of 280 MW of hydrogen to Vertex Hydrogen. "The hydrogen will then be used to help decarbonise Essar's existing production facilities," the firm said in a statement.
Vertex will produce (in its initial phases) 1GW of hydrogen (the equivalent energy use of a large UK city like Liverpool) and capture some 1.8 million tonnes of carbon per annum.
By 2030, Vertex expects to deliver nearly 4GW of low carbon hydrogen, equivalent to 40 per cent of the UK Government's national target, the statement said.
"Essar achieved a new milestone in its ongoing transition to low carbon operations, following the UK Government's decision in August this year to shortlist the construction of the hydrogen production plants and a separate carbon capture project at its site in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire," it said.
The two projects form part of Essar's 1 billion pound investment into a range of energy efficiency, low-carbon energy, carbon capture and storage initiatives, designed to decarbonise its production processes and put Essar at the forefront of the UK's shift to low-carbon energy.
The company is delivering plans to significantly reduce its emissions before the end of the decade to become the UK's first low-carbon refinery.
Essar Oil UK chief executive Deepak Maheshwari said: "By signing this hydrogen offtake agreement with Vertex Hydrogen, we are helping to de-risk the project, while also securing supply for our production processes into the future and thereby reducing our carbon footprint".