Equinor has submitted a co-funded bid of more than £16mn into the government for a second low carbon hydrogen production facility in the Humber.
On 22 June, Equinor detailed how its Hydrogen to Humber (H2H) Production 2 project could become operational by 2028, producing 1.2GW of low carbon hydrogen to be used across multiple sectors in the region. When combined with its 600MW H2H Saltend project on the north band, together they could deliver almost 20% of the government’s 10GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030 target. This, according to Equinor, would make Humber “the UK’s foremost hydrogen hub”.
The bid into the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund would be 50% privately funded, with the grant to support the development of the project as it aims to achieve a final investment decision in 2025. It would be situated close to the proposed hydrogen infrastructure being developed under the Zero Carbon Humber (ZCH) scheme.
The University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) is set to collaborate with Equinor on the project, with it developing a digital twin of the hydrogen supply chain to identify opportunities for the UK’s manufacturing supply chain. This will support local and national SMEs, empowering them to make the most of one of the world’s “first truly low carbon hydrogen economies”.
Dan Sadler, Equinor’s Vice President for UK Low Carbon Solutions, said that the project would help to establish an “at scale” hydrogen economy in the Humber, providing the UK an “international lighthouse replicable across the world”.
