ET Highlights: UK CCS projects reach FID, India targets $2/kg hydrogen, US renewables boost before headwinds

Top story

First two UK HyNet CO2 capture projects reach financial close

The first two carbon capture projects in the UK HyNet industrial cluster have reached financial close and will start construction on facilities designed to capture a total of 1.2 million mt/year of CO2, feeding into the Liverpool Bay store.

Heidelberg Materials UK's Padeswood cement plant and Encyclis' Protos waste-to-energy plant in Ellesmere Port have signed final contracts with the UK government through the Low Carbon Contracts Company to begin construction, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said in a statement on Sept. 25.

"These two projects represent the role carbon capture, utilization and storage has to play in decarbonizing Great Britain's heavy industries and advancing energy from waste," LCCC Chief Executive Neil McDermott said in a statement.

The projects will supply captured CO2 into Eni's 4.5 million mt/year Liverpool Bay transport and storage system, which took a final investment decision in April.

SPGlobal.com

WORLD HYDROGEN: India targets renewable hydrogen cost below $2/kg by 2030

India is positioning itself as a global leader in renewable hydrogen with ambitious cost targets and competitive tenders that could reshape international energy markets, Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi said at S&P Global's World Hydrogen India conference in New Delhi. The country, which recently concluded clean energy auctions at low prices, is nurturing the ambition to bring renewable hydrogen production costs below $2/kg by 2030, Joshi said, adding the competitive Indian pricing demonstrates the fuel in India is becoming economically competitive.

PATH TO NET ZERO: Miners pursue decarbonization despite regulatory rollbacks

US President Donald Trump has actively opposed efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, and his government has sought to eliminate emissions-cutting measures from US policy. But while the US is one of the largest buyers of metals, it is not a major producer. Miners that face pressure from the EU, Australia, Canada and other governments to get off fossil fuels have pushed ahead with measures to reduce their carbon footprints.

S&P Global Energy Core

Woodside, Japan Suiso Energy, Kansai Electric team up on liquid hydrogen supply chain

Australia's Woodside Energy, Japan Suiso Energy and Kansai Electric have agreed to collaborate on developing a liquid hydrogen supply chain between Australia and Japan, the companies said in a joint statement. Under a new memorandum of understanding, the companies will create a supply chain in which liquid hydrogen, produced at Woodside’s proposed H2Perth Project in Western Australia, would be shipped to receiving terminals in Japan.

Short-term growth expected in US renewable energy space before slowdown: report

US energy projects face various head and tailwinds in the wake of President Trump’s recently passed budget bill, with short-term growth in renewables before tax credits drying up, potentially more natural gas-fired power infrastructure and little to no incremental demand for coal as an energy source, Morningstar DBRS said. Solar and wind projects that began construction by Dec. 31, 2024, can still claim the tax credits under the legacy tax code if the project is completed within four years of the construction start date.