MOSCOW (MRC) -- BP unveiled its largest green hydrogen initiative so far in the UK, with plans for renewable hydrogen production in north-east England it believes could grow to half a gigawatt of electrolyser capacity by the end of the decade, according to Upstream.
The UK supermajor aims to build an initial 60-megawatt green hydrogen plant by 2025 as the first step in its HyGreen Teesside project.
That could then grow in stages that “match production to demand” to 500MW of electrolysis by the end of the decade, adding to 1GW of planned blue hydrogen capacity – based on gas linked to carbon capture - under the already-announced H2Teesside initiative.
Matt Williamson, a vice president for hydrogen at BP, said the early focus of the planned electrolysis would be supplying a new generation of heavy trucks using fuel cells. BP signed a memorandum of understanding with Daimler Truck late last month to jointly develop a network of UK refuelling stations, releasing a joint statement that explicitly referred to green hydrogen from renewable-powered electrolysis.
“HyGreen is the supply end of that,” Williamson told Upstream's sister publication Recharge, adding that the first 60MW would be able to fuel about 1300 large trucks, replacing heavy vehicles that would otherwise rely on diesel.
HyGreen and H2Teesside - which BP said between them could account for 30% of the UK government's 5GW 2030 target for hydrogen production - are themselves part of a wider push to turn the region into the UK’s first integrated hydrogen hub and a major source of the fuel for heavy industry.
The scale of the first phase outstrips a 20MW electrolyser planned by Iberdrola in Scotland, which earlier this year was claimed as the largest so far planned in the UK.
BP is pursing one of the most ambitious renewable power build plans of any oil and gas group, with a target to have 50GW net on its books globally by 2030 and a pipeline that already includes a half-stake in 3GW of offshore wind in the Irish Sea that’s due in service later in the decade, with the potential for more major projects off the UK that could see part of their production allocated to renewable hydrogen. It is also in line to produce green hydrogen on a smaller scale in Aberdeen.
The company expects to make a final investment decision on the first phase of HyGreen by 2023, but like others advancing hydrogen projects in the UK, it is waiting with bated breath to see what support will be available from the nation's government.
As MRC wrote previously, in October, 2021, BP announced plans for a USD269 million investment in three projects at its Cherry Point Refinery in Washington state, aimed at improving the refinery’s efficiency, reducing its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and increasing its renewable diesel production capability. The investment is aligned with bp’s aims to be net zero across its operations by 2050 or sooner and to reduce the carbon intensity of the products it sells by 50% by 2050 or sooner.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in January-September 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.
BP is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, serving millions of customers every day in around 80 countries, and employing around 85,000 people. BP’s business segments are Upstream (oil and gas exploration & production), and Downstream (refining & marketing). Through these activities, BP provides fuel for transportation; energy for heat and light; services for motorists; and petrochemicals products for plastics, textiles and food packaging. It has strong positions in many of the world's hydrocarbon basins and strong market positions in key economies.
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