Hundreds join event to discuss the UK’s first hydrogen production hub

Phil Black - PII Editor 18/10/2021

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Over 500 people registered to attend the virtual event held this week to discover how partners in the North West are designing and developing the UK’s first hydrogen production hub.

Consortium partners Progressive Energy, Kent, Johnson Matthey and Essar shared details of how they are using Johnson Matthey’s innovative best in class Low Carbon Hydrogen (LCH™) technology at Essar’s Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

The ground-breaking HyNet hydrogen production plant will produce low carbon hydrogen to power businesses and homes across North West England and North Wales. The engineering development of the UK’s first low carbon hydrogen hub has been funded by the UK Government’s hydrogen supply competition.

Jon Barden, Chief Operating Officer at Essar UK said: “Natural gas, and fuel gases from the refinery, will be converted into low carbon hydrogen, with carbon dioxide safely captured and stored under the sea in Liverpool Bay. The hub will initially produce 3 terawatt-hours of low carbon hydrogen each year from the mid 2020's. This will be quickly followed by a facility twice this size giving a total capacity of over 9 terawatt-hours of hydrogen each year.”

Hydrogen is critical to the UK’s future energy mix –providing a low carbon solution to fuel vital to heavy industry, moving goods around the country in heavy goods vehicles and trains, heating our homes and generating electricity when the sun is not shining or the wind blowing. It will help us decarbonise in order to reach our net zero commitments and pioneer a hydrogen economy as a catalyst for green growth.

Sam French, Business Development Director, Johnson Matthey said: “Johnson Matthey’s low carbon hydrogen technology has contributed to the UK having some of the best blue hydrogen projects in the world. But we need to act, and we need to act now, so we don’t lose the UK’s first user advantage. We need to get these projects built and this project proves we already have the technologies and skills within the UK workforce to deliver.”

Chris Manson Whitton, Director at Progressive Energy said: “It was fantastic that so many joined the event to hear from, and ask questions of, the engineers, project managers and technologists who have been delivering this ground-breaking project over the last two years. In addition to sharing the technical findings from the project, we also held a panel session with senior representatives of each organisation to discuss the future of the hydrogen sector.”

Simon Naylor, Executive Vice President Engineering and Consulting, Kent said: “We are very proud to be involved in the HyNet hydrogen production hub and are delighted to have undertaken the engineering design for such an innovative UK project. We have worked hard to ensure that everything we have done can be replicated efficiently on subsequent hydrogen production plants in the other industrial clusters.