Equinor’s H2H Saltend hydrogen project granted planning permission

• 600MW low carbon plant located in Northeast England
• Potential application for Cluster Sequencing Track-1 Expansion
• Site due to be operational by the end of the decade

LONDON (ICIS)–Equinor’s H2H Saltend low carbon hydrogen project has been granted planning permission by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the company said in a press release 20 February.

The plant is due to have a capacity of 600MW with carbon capture technology applied and is slated to begin commercial operations by the end of the decade.

Equinor said that this was a major step forward for the project, with a potential application being prepared into the UK government’s upcoming Cluster Sequencing Track-1 Expansion process which is due to launch later this year as part of the East Coast Cluster.

The hydrogen set to be produced is expected to be used in chemical processes by nearby companies, as well as being blended with natural gas at the Triton power station, with 900,000 tonnes/year of CO2 expected to be stored in sub-sea aquifers.

The H2H Saltend project is part of Equinor’s Hydrogen to Humber ambition, which is forecast to produce 1.8GW of low carbon hydrogen within the region by 2030.

The UK has ambitions to have 10GW of hydrogen capacity up and running by 2030, of which a maximum of 5GW will be low carbon hydrogen with the remainder being electrolytic hydrogen.

Data from ICIS Analytics showed that UK hydrogen demand is due to increase from 21TWh this year to 72TWh by 2030, of which the chemicals sector is forecast to account for 20TWh (28%) of total UK hydrogen demand.