BP Targets 1 GW Hydrogen Production by 2030, Planning UK’s Largest Plant

British multinational oil and gas company, BP has announced that it is planning to build UK’s largest hydrogen production plant. The company, which has the aim of reimagining energy and helping the world to reach net-zero emissions is targeting to produce 1 GW of hydrogen by 2030.

This project would capture and send for storage up to two million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) per year, equivalent to capturing the emissions from the heating of one million UK households.

BP announced that the project would be located in Teesside in north-east England and, with a final investment decision (FID) in early 2024, and the production is expected to begin in 2027 or earlier.

BP has begun the research study to explore technologies that could capture up to 98 percent of carbon emissions from the hydrogen production process. The proposed development, H2Teesside, would be a significant step in developing ‎bp’s hydrogen business and make a major contribution to the UK Government’s target of developing 5GW of hydrogen production by 2030.

Speaking on the project, BP’s executive vice president of gas and low carbon energy said, Dev Sanyal stated, “Clean hydrogen is an essential complement to electrification on the path to net-zero. Blue hydrogen, integrated with carbon capture and storage, can provide the scale and reliability needed by industrial processes. It can also play an essential role in decarbonizing hard-to-electrify industries and driving down the cost of the energy transition.”

Blue hydrogen is produced by converting natural gas into hydrogen and CO₂, which is then captured and permanently stored. The project’s hydrogen output could provide clean energy to industry and residential homes, be used as a fuel for heavy transport, and support the creation of sustainable fuels, including bio and e-fuels.

BP has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Venator, one of the largest global producers of titanium dioxide pigments and performance additives, to scope the supply of clean hydrogen to its flagship Teesside plant. It has also signed an MoU with Northern Gas Networks (NGN), the gas distributor for the North of England, to work together to initiate decarbonization of the gas networks in the UK.

“Clean hydrogen has huge potential to help us fully decarbonize across the UK and it is great to see bp exploring its full potential on Teesside,” said Anne-Marie Trevelyan, UK Energy Minister.

The Minister further added, “Driving the growth of low carbon hydrogen is a key part of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan and our Energy White Paper and can play an important part in helping us end our contribution to climate change by 2050.”

Separately, bp has also signed an MoU with Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) to explore the potential for green hydrogen in the region, including the development of Teesside as the UK’s first hydrogen transport hub, as announced by the UK’s Department for Transport in September 2020. Green hydrogen is produced by the electrolysis of water, powered by renewable energy.

“With our expertise in chemicals and processing, Teesside has developed an enviable reputation around the globe as the go-to place to develop hydrogen as a fuel source. The announcement by bp underlines this position,” said Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor.

“This is a huge vote of confidence in our region and puts Teesside at the forefront of efforts to achieve the government’s ambitious target for the UK to be the world’s first major economy to be net-zero, by 2050,” Mayor added.