Three firms in running for a key project
H2H Saltend project and then expanding that experience with the Keadby Hydrogen project.
“Producing hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture and storage provides a practical, scalable solution to decarbonise a wide range of sectors that currently depend on fossil fuel.”
The huge investment would underpin the Zero Carbon Humber proposal for the area, with the East coast Cluster it is a major part of selected in the sequencing competition run by the government last month.
It has opened up £1bn of funding.
The contractors will participate in a competition to provide design proposals, as well as a lump sum front end engineering design andoption for engineering, procurement and construction execution and operations.
The three selected contractors are KBR & Tecnimont consortium, Technip Energies consortium as well as Linde through its businesses Linde Engineering and BOC UK.
Tanguy Cosmao, Equinor’s project director for the H2H project, told how there was “huge interest for the projects” and the consortia were chosen through a six-month prequalification process.
“The selected contractors are renowned for their engineering, procurement and construction and operating capabilities in the hydrogen/ammonia and carbon capture sector,” he said.
“Our execution strategy enables adoption of proven technology and cost competitive solutions for first-of-a-kind projects and early engagement of UK construction and service companies.”
East Coast Cluster will provide the critical CO2 transport and storage infrastructure required by the Humber hydrogen projects.
Projections show the H2H Saltend project will enable fuel switching in 2026-2027 resulting in a CO2 emissions reduction of 1.1 million tonnes a year.
Equinor plans to supply hydrogen to Keadby Hydrogen power station, expected to startup in 2028-29 with a resulting CO2 emissions reduction of close to two million tonnes per year.
Equinor is working with Supply Chain Network and Catch to host supplier days later this month to highlight opportunities for other businesses, with the PRE-FEED contractors hosting alongside the H2H team.