HYDROGEN:
THE FUTURE
The next stage of our journey to building a low carbon future is working with alternative fuels. Utilising hydrogen is a significant step towards our 2035 Net Zero carbon emissions goal.
AN EXCITING PARTNERSHIP
A key enabler for our switch from natural gas to hydrogen is the HyNet cluster and our exciting partnership with Vertex, producer of the blue hydrogen, which will feed the site in 2028.
Blue hydrogen is derived from natural gas using a process called Steam Methane Reforming (SMR). Simplistically, natural gas is reacted with high pressure steam in the presence of a catalyst to form H2 and CO2 (and CO). What makes this low carbon is that the CO2 is then captured and sequestered (stored), in HyNet’s case, in the Irish Sea. The hydrogen is then transported via pipeline to end users.
HOW WILL IT WORK?
We will raise steam and generate electricity using hydrogen, which will eliminate our CO2 emissions from those applications. The combustion of hydrogen emits water, as opposed to the combustion of natural gas which emits CO2, helping us to eliminate CO2 emissions within our processes.
INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE
By making the switch to hydrogen, we estimate that roughly 360,000 tonnes of CO2, which would otherwise have been emitted into the atmosphere, will be abated. This is equivalent to taking around 180,000 petrol cars off the road (travelling 6000 mi/yr)!
OUR DEDICATION
We have already invested in carbon capture and usage (CCU) technology to capture over 10% of our emissions. We’ve signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vertex for the offtake of around 220MW of hydrogen – an agreement that demonstrates our intent to switch to hydrogen and form part of the basis for Vertex to secure funding for phase 2 of their hydrogen production capacity (phase 1 was funded via the government’s Net Zero Hydrogen Fund).