Equinor has increased its target for hydrogen production in the United Kingdom to 1.8 GW following a visit to Oslo by British Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
Equinor announced plans to expand its low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 1.2 GW, primarily to feed Keadby Hydrogen, the world’s first large 100 percent hydrogen-fired power plant, which it is developing in collaboration with British utility SSE.
The project might begin operations by the end of the decade, it claimed, pending approval from the British government.
Equinor CEO Anders Opedal stated at a meeting with Kwarteng and Norway’s Oil and Energy Minister Tina Bru that the company’s projects will assist the UK in fulfilling its climate targets.
“Our low-carbon projects in the UK build on our own industrial experience and will play a major role in setting the UK’s industrial heartlands in a leading position,” said Opdeal.
Britain aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and 5 gigatonnes of clean hydrogen capacity by 2030, and is supporting a number of decarbonisation initiatives financially.
Equinor has already announced plans to build a 0.6 GW facility in north-eastern England to manufacture so-called “blue” hydrogen from natural gas while also absorbing accompanying carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Additionally, it is involved in a project to develop the region’s CO2 transit and storage infrastructure.
Clean hydrogen produced from water using renewable energy or from natural gas combined with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is viewed as critical for decarbonizing steel and chemical industries.
