EET Fuels has selected Wood to plan its hydrogen fuel switching project at the Stanlow refinery near Liverpool. This project aims to transform Stanlow into what EET Fuels aspires to be the “world’s first decarbonized refinery.”
The strategy involves switching the refinery’s fuel source from natural gas and refinery off-gas to hydrogen produced on-site. As part of the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase, Wood will complete the final designs for the hydrogen fuel system. This will be used in a hydrogen-ready furnace, the first of its kind in any UK refinery. The furnace will either run on 100% hydrogen or a fuel-gas mix, expected to cut Stanlow’s emissions by approximately 200,000 tonnes annually.
Wood will also be responsible for redesigning the core infrastructure and control systems to ensure efficient and safe hydrogen combustion. The completion of the FEED study will enable EET Fuels to make a final investment decision on the project in 2025.
As one of the UK’s largest refineries, Stanlow processes around 10 million tonnes of crude oil annually. With the potential closure of the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, EET Fuels is looking to expand Stanlow’s operations. The refinery currently produces a significant portion of the UK’s transport fuels and petrochemical feedstocks.
Stanlow is one of the major industrial emitters in the UK, generating about two million tonnes of CO2 each year. EET Fuels aims to invest £1.2 billion over the next five years to reduce these emissions by 95% by 2030. Alongside hydrogen fuel switching and improved efficiency, the company is planning to implement carbon capture and storage (CCS) at the site. This is part of the broader HyNet industrial cluster initiative to capture and store CO2 emissions offshore in Liverpool Bay.
