bp has entered into Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with a series of new ‎potential customers for its proposed clean hydrogen production facility in Teesside in north-east ‎England.

In March, bp announced plans for a clean hydrogen facility in Teesside (H2Teesside) that would aim to ‎produce up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of ‘blue’ hydrogen production by 2030.

Blue hydrogen is produced by converting natural gas into hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO₂), which is then captured and permanently stored. H2Teesside would be integrated with the region’s already-planned Net Zero Teesside and Northern Endurance Partnership carbon capture use and storage (CCUS) projects, both of which are led by bp as operator.

bp also announced in March it had signed initial MoUs to scope the supply of hydrogen to chemicals ‎manufacturer Venator and gas distributor Northern Gas Networks.‎

bp has now signed MoUs with four further potential customers – with existing or planned new ‎Teesside operations – for hydrogen produced by the project. These can support and accelerate the ‎development of the Teesside hydrogen cluster and decarbonisation of industrial users in the area. The ‎new MoUs are with:‎

• CF Fertilisers, one of the largest global producers of ammonia and ammonia-based fertilizers ‎products, to scope the supply of clean hydrogen as fuel to reduce hard to abate combustion ‎emissions at its Billingham plant, whereas feedstock sourced CO₂ would be sequestered via the ‎Northern Endurance Partnership project.
• Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, a leading global manufacturer of chemical products, to scope ‎the supply of clean hydrogen to its methyl methacrylate production plant in Teesside (formerly ‎operated as Lucite International).‎
• Sembcorp Energy UK, owner and operator of utilities and services infrastructure at Wilton ‎International, an industrial park in Teesside, to scope the supply of clean hydrogen to its combined ‎heat and power plants and developing hydrogen infrastructure at Wilton International to enable ‎hydrogen supply to third parties.

These companies are seeking to decarbonise existing operations in Teesside by switching fuel from ‎natural gas to clean hydrogen, enabling their manufacturing facilities to produce low carbon products ‎as society progresses towards a net-zero future.‎

Finally, bp has executed an MoU with alfanar Company to scope the supply of clean hydrogen to ‎alfanar’s waste-to-sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant, currently under development, in Teesside.‎ alfanar Company represents the new project investments coming to Teesside, aiming to develop ‎low carbon materials using clean hydrogen as a feedstock for production.

Louise Jacobsen Plutt, bp’s senior vice president of hydrogen and CCUS, said the new ‎announcement demonstrates the diverse range of companies and industries that can benefit from ‎clean hydrogen.

“Teesside has all the attributes of a world-class clean hydrogen hub – the right ‎natural resources, concentrated demand, potential for hydrogen storage and pipelines, ample access ‎to CCUS and the right skills base. While the impact of investments may be felt most acutely in the ‎north-east, the decarbonisation benefit of H2Teesside is expected to be felt countrywide. Ultimately, ‎these MoUs show how supply and demand can work together to accelerate the growth and delivery ‎of a hydrogen economy.”

H2Teesside is estimated to capture and send for storage up to two million tonnes of CO₂ per year, equivalent to capturing the emissions from the heating of one million UK households [1].

bp is expected to make a final investment decision on H2Teesside in early 2024. Additional information on the project can be found ‎here.‎

[1] Based on data from the UK’s Climate Change Committee.