UK utility SSE Thermal and Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor are developing plans to create one of the world’s largest hydrogen storage facilities on the east coast of England.

The project, which would form part of the emerging net-zero Humber industrial cluster, is based on upgrading the Aldbrough natural gas storage site on the East Yorkshire coast to store  at east at least 320GWh of low-carbon hydrogen, potentially from 2028, the two companies say.

"By delivering large-scale hydrogen storage capacity, we can utilise hydrogen to decarbonise vital power generation, as well as heavy industry, heat, transport, and other hard-to-reach sectors" Wheeler, SSE Thermal

The existing Aldbrough facility, which was commissioned in 2011, is co-owned by SSE Thermal and Equinor, and consists of nine underground salt caverns.

“By delivering large-scale hydrogen storage capacity, we can utilise hydrogen to decarbonise vital power generation, as well as heavy industry, heat, transport, and other hard-to-reach sectors, safeguarding and creating crucial jobs and investment across the region,” says Stephen Wheeler, managing director of SSE Thermal.

FID will depend on the progress of the necessary business models and associated infrastructure, the companies say.

Last month, Equinor tripled its target for clean hydrogen production in the UK to 1.8GW. Under the expanded target, Equinor would deploy an additional 1.2GW of blue hydrogen capacity in the UK, principally to fuel the Keadby 100pc hydrogen power station, which it is developing with SSE Thermal in Yorkshire.

The Norwegian company already had plans to install a 600MW gas reformer to produce hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture, enabling fuel switching by industrial users at the UK’s Saltend Chemicals Park and the onsite Saltend Cogeneration Power plant.

---

Author: Stuart Penson