HyNet's 200 mt/d hydrogen output by 2025 depends on UK government business plan

The HyNet low-carbon hydrogen consortium is targeting 200 mt/d of hydrogen production from its site in the UK's Northwest by 2025, but said a final investment decision on the project was dependent on the government's hydrogen business plan.

The consortium expects to take a final investment decision in 2022, dependent on the outcome of the proposed national hydrogen business model, with construction planned for 2023-25, project members said Sept. 16.

The 200 mt/d of hydrogen output is equivalent to around 350 MW of production. The government has an interim target of 1 GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2025, rising to 5 GW by 2030. HyNet could produce 3.8 GW of hydrogen by 2030, it said.

"We need commitment," project partner Progressive Energy's North West regional lead John Egan said in an online presentation.

"We need to know that the government is behind this," Egan said. "I think policy announcements over the past year have been excellent, building off the [government's] 10-point plan [for a green industrial revolution], through to business models starting to become tangible around carbon capture and storage and hydrogen."

"We need to have an agreed route that this is going to be funded," he added. "We're starting to see that [and] it's good that we've got that level of government commitment."

Government alignment needed

Johnson Matthey business development director Sam French agreed that clear details from the government were needed to finalize project financing.

"If we can get to FID next year rather than delaying, then we can capture the supply chain," French said.

But he questioned the Treasury's commitment to funding net-zero projects.

"Are we really seeing the commitment from the Treasury to push these things over the line?" he said, highlighting that the government needed a joined-up approach to hydrogen policy.

"We see hydrogen sitting in a number of different departments. BEIS (The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) has been really strong in pushing industrial energy, but we don't necessarily see the same for transport through the Department for Transport. So, some more coherence within the government would be what I'm asking for from No. 10," referring to the UK prime minister.

Johnson Matthey is providing the low-carbon production technology for the project.

The first production would feed the Essar refinery at Stanlow, and a small number of local consumers, HyNet said. Essar currently produces 100 mt/d of hydrogen from fossil fuel sources at the plant, Essar Chief Operating Officer Jon Barden said.

Carbon capture

Joe Ward, HyNet project engineer at Progressive Energy, said the blue hydrogen plant would achieve CO2 capture rates of 97%, delivering a total 85%-90% CO2 savings compared with the status quo alternative.

HyNet aims to reduce CO2 emissions by over 1 million mt/year by 2025, rising to up to 10 million mt/year by 2030.

It will use a combination of autothermal reforming coupled with a gas heated reformer, which reduces feedstock needs and CO2 emissions by 10% compared with steam methane reforming with CCS.

The main difference is that the energy used to drive the reaction is provided by introducing oxygen to the ATR, as opposed to burning natural gas in SMR, HyNet said in a phase-one report for BEIS.

S&P Global Platts assessed the cost of producing hydrogen by autothermal reforming with carbon capture and storage at GBP3.93/kg ($5.42kg) on Sept. 15, including capex and carbon.

HyNet aims to bring on a second hydrogen production line in 2027, supplying 10-15 industrial consumers and connecting to salt cavern storage sites. The consortium will start up further hydrogen plants at the site in 2028 and 2030, it said.

The production facility will link to a wider supply and storage network in the Northwest of the UK.

Business models

Progressive Energy's Egan said UK offshore wind was a good model for the way the hydrogen economy could ramp up.

"I think what the government achieved in making offshore wind generation happen kind of provides the model," he said. "Government intervened when there was a market failure, and made it happen, and now it's hugely successful."

And tight carbon standards would be critical to making the low-carbon hydrogen market a success, Johnson Matthey's French said.

"We have to set a high bar for the standards for low-carbon hydrogen, if it is going to play a really substantial role in achieving net-zero."

He added that the 5-GW target by 2030 was a good start, but said it probably did not go far enough.

"We know we can do more than that," he said.