BP expects to nearly double its pipeline of low-carbon hydrogen projects by the end of this year as it grows its portfolio with a continued focus on applications at its own refineries.

“In hydrogen and renewables and power we are progressing our global portfolio of projects,” Chief Financial Officer Murray Auchincloss said in the company’s first quarter earnings presentation.

“We are on-track to nearly double our hydrogen pipeline by year-end from 1.8mn t/yr at the end of 2022 to around 3.5mn t/yr. And we continue to grow our renewables pipeline.”

“We are on-track to nearly double our hydrogen pipeline by year-end from 1.8mn t/yr at the end of 2022 to around 3.5mn t/yr” Auchincloss, BP

Developments in the hydrogen portfolio during the first quarter included the launch of plans for a low-carbon green energy cluster in Spain's Valencia region, with the deployment of up to 2GW of electrolyser capacity at the Castellon refinery by 2030.

In the US, projects include discussions around the production of low-carbon production at the Cherry Point refinery near Bellingham, Washington and at the Whiting refinery on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. The Cherry Point project would probably focus on green hydrogen, with a likely focus on blue at Whiting, Auchincloss told analysts.

In addition to use at refineries, low-carbon hydrogen as a tanker fuel is also a growing area of interest to BP. “Seaborne is something [about which] we are in conversation with many customers,” Auchincloss says. “There is the potential for green methanol to fuel tankers or green ammonia to fuel tankers that are shipping products around the world. So that is a potential that's starting to emerge. We will see if that works.”

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Author: Stuart Penson