Shell and Uniper have signed a collaboration deal to progress plans for the production of low-carbon blue hydrogen at Uniper’s Killingholme power station site in North Lincolnshire, UK, that could be used to decarbonize industry, transport and power in the region.
The Humber Hub Blue project includes plans for a blue hydrogen production facility with a capacity of up to 720 megawatts, using gas reformation technology with carbon capture and storage (CCS), with the captured carbon planned to be stored under the North Sea seabed.
The captured carbon would be fed through the proposed Zero Carbon Humber onshore pipeline, part of the East Coast Cluster, recently selected as one of two CCS clusters to receive initial government support under the government’s cluster sequencing process.
Uniper is a partner in the Zero Carbon Humber project. As part of the East Coast Cluster, the captured carbon dioxide will be stored permanently offshore in the Northern Endurance Partnership’s facility in the UK’s North Sea.
According to Shell, the Humber Hub Blue Project recently passed the eligibility criteria for Phase-2 of the government’s cluster sequencing process. Successful projects which could be eligible for government funding will be shortlisted from May 2022. Phase-2 projects are expected to take final investment decisions from 2024 to then be operational from 2027.
Blue hydrogen production at Killingholme could see the capture of around 1.6 million metric tonnes (Mt) of carbon a year through CCS. The UK Government has set a target to capture 10 Mt of carbon a year by 2030, Shell said.
FEED by 2023
The agreement between Shell and Uniper follows a memorandum of understanding signed by both companies in 2021 to explore accelerating the development of a hydrogen economy in Europe. Shell and Uniper will now jointly progress process design studies and site development activity, with a view to taking the project to front-end engineering and design by 2023, Shell said.
"Shell is ready to play our part in ensuring an orderly transition to net-zero while bolstering the UK’s energy security,” said David Bunch, Country Chair, Shell UK. “We plan to invest up to £25 billion in the UK energy system over the next decade subject to Board approval, and more than 75% of this is for low- and zero-carbon technology. Hydrogen and CCS will be key to these plans. They can also help stimulate economic growth and jobs. That is why it is critical that both government and industry continue to work together to drive change.”