BP lines up blue hydrogen customers in UK

BP has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with potential customers for its planned blue hydrogen plant in Teesside in northeast England, the UK major announced on August 5.

The UK sees blue hydrogen as having a major role in decarbonising its hard-to-abate industries over the coming decades. With a 1-GW capacity, BP's plant is expected to contribute 20% of the UK's blue hydrogen target for 2030.

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BP signed MoUs with the UK's CF Fertilisers, a major ammonia producer that is looking to decarbonise its facility in Billingham, as well as with Japan's Mitsubishi, which is seeking hydrogen for its methyl methacrylate production plant in Teesside, and Singapore's Sembcorp Energy, which owns combined heat and power plants and other facilities at the Wilton International industrial park in Teesside.

These companies all envisage using hydrogen in place of the natural gas they currently use. BP also signed a fourth deal with Saudi Arabia's Alfanar, which is developing a new waste-to-sustainable aviation fuel plant in Teesside and wants to use hydrogen as feedstock.

"Teesside has all the attributes of a world-class clean hydrogen hub – the right natural resources, concentrated demand, potential for hydrogen storage and pipelines, ample access to carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) and the right skills base," BP's senior vice president of hydrogen and CCUS, Louise Jacobsen Plutt, commented.

BP unveiled plans for its blue hydrogen plant in March. The project will be developed in tandem with Net Zero Teesside, a decarbonisation initiative led by BP, Eni, Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies. BP plans to capture and store the resulting 2mn metric tons/year of CO₂ released when the hydrogen is produced from natural gas in geological structures under the North Sea.

BP earlier signed MoUs to supply hydrogen to Venator, a major producer of titanium dioxide pigments and performance activities, and with gas distributor Northern Gas Networks to help decarbonise its network.

A recent report by Xodus drew attention to the competitive edge that the UK enjoyed in producing low-carbon hydrogen, urging the government to embrace its blue hydrogen potential and not focus only on green hydrogen. The government is due to publish its long-awaited hydrogen strategy later this month.