Massive 600MW blue hydrogen plant secures UK planning permission
Equinor's H2H Saltend is on track to be one of the largest carbon capture-based projects in Europe
Equinor’s H2H Saltend has become the second major blue hydrogen project — and the first linked to the East Coast Cluster carbon capture and storage (CCS) network — to secure planning permission from UK authorities, taking the scheme a step closer to a final investment decision (FID).
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Located in the Saltend Chemicals Park in Hull, the 600MW project will replace an existing steam methane reforming unit (which produces grey hydrogen from fossil gas) with a high-efficiency autothermal methane reformer (ATR) and CCS technology that Equinor claims will capture “at least” 95% of CO2 emissions.
The full 600MW of H2H Saltend has been granted planning permission, while the HyNet project is set to be built in two phases: with the first 350MW phase given full planning consent by local authorities, and the second 750MW preliminary consent.
Both the East Coast Cluster and HyNet CCS networks have been granted Track-1 status by the government, meaning they will be the first in line for licensing as well as subsidies from a £1bn ($1.26bn) fund with the expectation that the two clusters will be up and running in the mid-2020s.