BP confirms 60 MW first phase of Teesside renewable hydrogen project

BP has confirmed plans to start operation of a 60 MWe electrolysis plant on Teesside by 2025 producing renewable hydrogen, potentially expanding the plant to 500 MWe by 2030, the oil and gas company said Nov. 29.

A final investment decision on the ‎HyGreen Teesside project is expected in 2023.‎

"Hygreen Teesside is the latest addition to BP's integrated UK business portfolio, which includes 3 GW ‎gross of offshore wind in the Irish Sea," it said.

BP is also involved in the 1-GW H2Teesside blue hydrogen project with Shell and Equinor, producing the energy carrier by reforming natural gas and capturing the resulting carbon.

"The combined 1.5 GW capacity of HyGreen Teesside and H2Teesside could deliver 30% of the UK ‎government's target of developing 5 GW of hydrogen production by 2030," BP said.

Industries in Teesside ‎account for more than 5% of the UK's industrial emissions and the region is home to five of the country's ‎top 25 carbon emitters.

HyGreen Teesside "is expected to match production to demand ‎and build on experience to drive down costs," BP said.

S&P Global Platts assessed the price of UK PEM electrolysis-based hydrogen (including capex) at GBP17.54/kg Nov. 26, versus GBP5.02/kg for UK blue hydrogen (ATR with CCS, including capex).

Selected BP hydrogen projects:

Source: S&P Global Platts Analytics Hydrogen Production Asset Database; BP; GetH2

Hydrogen represented a "massive" opportunity for BP, the company's Vice President for Hydrogen Market Development Sally Prickett said at the Platts Hydrogen Markets Europe Conference Nov. 25.

"In a net-zero world, we can see clean hydrogen delivering about 16% or even more of the energy mix, which is about the same as natural gas in today's energy mix. So the opportunity is absolutely massive," she said.

Over the next 10 years, BP would invest in both electrolysis and gas reforming with CCS-based production pathways "to drive the technology and the costs down, and allow the rest of the industry to build," she said.

Prickett emphasized a partnership approach to developing the market, targeting sectors where the potential for decarbonization was greatest. These included refining, chemicals, high-temperature industrial heat, steel production and heavy transport.