Essar Group-led EET Hydrogen has commenced the Front End Engineering & Design (FEED) of its 1,000 megawatt (MW) hydrogen production plant in the UK
“EET Hydrogen is delighted to announce that its HPP2 production project has commenced FEED. At up to 1,000 MW capacity the plant is expected to be the largest in the UK and one of the largest in the world and will produce some 230,000 tonnes of low carbon hydrogen every year for local industrial and power generation customers,” the company said.
This follows from HPP1 (350 MW capacity plant), which was completed FEED in September 2021 and was selected by the UK government in March 2023 as one of two initial large low carbon hydrogen plants in the UK, it added.
The HPP2 is a catalyst for investment across the UK North-West for infrastructure that will transport and store hydrogen and for industrial and power generation customers who will switch to this low-carbon fuel. This will deliver the first low carbon refining, glass and chemicals manufacturing sites in the world.
The HPP2 will be adjacent to the HPP1 plant, benefiting from the synergies and helping to deliver value for money.
Besides, the Essar Group firm also changed its brand name from Vertex Hydrogen to Essar Energy Transition (EET) Hydrogen and it intends to move from being a subsidiary of Essar Oil UK (EOUK) to a sister company of EOUK.
This change is a natural progression in the development of the company from an early-stage idea into the leading hydrogen production project in the UK, the company said.
“We have made huge progress since launching our hydrogen business last year and the natural next step is for EET Hydrogen to become a standalone business to capitalise on the huge opportunities we see. This paves the way for future growth of our hydrogen platform as we move from ambition to action,” EET Hydrogen CEO Joe Seifert said.
EET Hydrogen will provide a platform for growth with an ambition to deliver around 4GW of low-carbon hydrogen by 2030, around 40 per cent of the UK Government’s national target.
Essar founded Vertex Hydrogen (VHL) with Progressive Energy (PEL) in January 2022 as an operating subsidiary held 90 per cent by EOUK.