Plans in for Humber hydrogen production facility

The proposed development of a Humber low carbon hydrogen production plant has taken a step forward with the submission of a planning application.Equinor has submitted plans to East Riding of Yorkshire Council for development at the Saltend Chemicals Park (SCP), to the east of Hull.The proposed H2H Saltend facility would produce 600 megawatts (MW) of hydrogen via two 300 MW trains.Natural gas will be received via pipeline, desulphurised and routed to a gas heated reformer (GHR) in series with an autothermal reformer (ATR). The gas/steam mixture would then be converted into hydrogen and carbon oxides.The gas would then enter shift converters to convert carbon monoxide and water to CO2 and hydrogen. CO2 would be removed and captured.The CO2 would then be dried, compressed and transported as liquid via a pipeline from the SCP to Easington. From there it will be transported offshore for permanent geological storage beneath the North Sea by the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP).A planning statement prepared by ERM and submitted as part of the application said: “The proposed project is to be located on a brownfield site, within the SCP and directly adjacent to the gas supply and to off takers of the hydrogen. It represents the first step towards delivering the world’s first net zero industrial cluster by 2040, and will contribute to making the Humber a key innovator in the UK’s journey to net zero by 2050.”It is proposed to lead the way for future hydrogen production in the UK, whilst putting the UK at the forefront of the global hydrogen economy.”Earlier this year, Equinor announced that the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract for H2H Saltend had been awarded to Linde Engineering, with an operation and maintenance service contract to BOC.