The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced that Equinor’s H₂ to Humber Saltend (H₂H Saltend) production facility has been successfully progressed through Phase-2 of the Government’s cluster sequencing process.

The selected projects will now proceed to the due diligence stage of the Phase-2 cluster sequencing process to allow them to connect to the East Coast Cluster’s CO₂ infrastructure and be operational in the mid-2020s.

Previously in Phase-1 of the cluster sequencing process, the East Coast Cluster, which connects the Humber and Teesside via CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure, was selected to become one of the first two CCUS clusters in the UK.

Equinor’s bids for two new gas-fired power stations with carbon capture at Keadby, developed with SSE Thermal, and in Teesside, developed in partnership with bp, have also been successful.

Grete Tveit, senior vice president for Low Carbon Solutions, Equinor said, “Fantastic news that the UK Government has selected three of our pioneering CCS and hydrogen projects. They will help decarbonise vital and carbon-intensive industries, preserve existing jobs and create new ones, as well as provide local supply chain opportunities. We’re excited to continue working closely with the UK Government, our partners, and local stakeholders to deliver these large-scale projects. This further strengthens the UK’s position as a world leader in the energy transition.”

H2H Saltend is Equinor’s flagship project with a 600-MW low carbon H₂ production plant, located at the Saltend Chemicals Park (SCP), to the east of Hull.

The Humber is the most carbon intensive industrial region in the UK and H₂H Saltend could enable a variety of critical industries at SCP and the wider East Yorkshire area to reduce CO₂ emissions by nearly 1 MMtpy.

The projects that are finally selected will start operations in 2026/2027.

H₂H Saltend is the kick-starter project for the wider Zero Carbon Humber scheme, a UKRI-supported partnership of 14 organizations committed to making the Humber the world’s first net zero industrial cluster by 2040.

Equinor is also planning a second 1.2-GW low carbon H₂ production facility in the Humber, which combined with H₂H Saltend could deliver 18% of the UK Government’s target of 10-GW H₂ production capacity by 2030.

In partnership with SSE Thermal, Equinor is also planning to develop the world’s first at-scale 100% H₂ power station at Keadby and a proposed H₂ storage facility at Aldbrough.