The North East’s leading position on hydrogen has been hailed followed the inclusion of two regional projects in phase two of the Government’s Carbon Capture Usage and Storage Cluster (CCUS) Sequencing Process.
Kellas Midstream’s H2NorthEast development and bp’s H2Teesside – both part ofThe Northern Endurance Partnership’s East Coast Cluster – now stand to benefit from a£1bn fund designed to support projects carbon transport and storage projects. Process industry cluster NEPIC has highlighted the North East’s strength in the field, also pointing to the large scale BOC hydrogen plant that supplies businesses and several other green hydrogen projects in the region.
Philip Aldridge, CEO at NEPIC said: “The BEIS Phase-2 announcement is excellent news for our region and really cements the North East as the hydrogen hub of the UK and a global ‘Super Place’ for hydrogen. Almost half of the UK’s Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) projects are based in the North East, which demonstrates our commitment to lead on CCUS initiatives.
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“Not only will this create thousands of jobs and attract investment across the local landscape, but this is also a huge step in the future distribution of low-carbon power that will be essential to the long-term sustainability of many businesses throughout the area.”
Chris Holt, clean growth manager at NEPIC added: “The Cluster Sequencing announcement highlights how clean growth is delivering for the North East in an unprecedented way and will provide exciting opportunities across our membership of over 300 companies. The news is timed perfectly to coincide with our Clean Growth Conference on September 20, where attendees will have the opportunity to hear from BOC, Sembcorp Energy UK and Kellas Midstream, all of which were successful in the BEIS Phase-2 Cluster Sequencing Process.”
NEPIC’s comments follow Kellas’ announcement that it has installed a methane emissions monitoring system at its Teesside Central Area Transmission System (CATS) terminal using technology from Denver-based Project Canary – the first time the equipment has been used outside of the US. Kellas says the move, which is worth tens of thousands of pounds a year, is an important part of the decarbonisation of oil and gas processes in the UK.
Andy Hessell, managing director of Kellas, said: “Kellas supports the North Sea Transition deal’s commitment to decarbonization. We must lead the way in reducing carbon intensity in our own operations. We have achieved a 25% reduction in carbon intensity in our existing operations over the last few years and aim to make further significant reductions by the end of the year in 2024. Project Canary’s technology enables us to precisely measure our performance, drive improvement, and minimise the potential for methane emissions from the gas we transport for our domestic consumers.”
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