Europe's first 100% hydrogen-fueled power plant is coming

On July 12, Essar Energy Transition (EET) announced that it would launch the EET hydrogen power generation project, which is Europe's first 100% hydrogen-fueled power plant.

EET is part of the Indian steel group Essar Group and its main businesses cover steel, energy, infrastructure and services.

The EET hydrogen power plant is located at EET Fuel's Stanlow refinery in the UK and will be put into operation in 2027. It will purchase hydrogen from EET Hydrogen's production plant and supply electricity and steam to the Stanlow refinery.

EET will also develop a 1GW blue hydrogen plant and at least 50MW electrolyzers. At present, the first batch of 350MW of blue hydrogen production capacity has obtained planning permission and will be launched in 2027.

The EET said it is Europe's first hydrogen power plant and will also provide low-carbon electricity to other industrial users in the region to support their decarbonization goals. Currently, other hydrogen power plants planned in Europe, such as Keadby Hydrogen in the UK and Gersteinwerk in Germany, are expected to be put into operation around the end of this decade.

Hydrogen-fueled power generation is an important part of the decarbonization of UK industry and power systems and is crucial to reducing emissions in line with government targets. EET's investment in hydrogen power plants is an important part of its $3 billion energy transformation plan in northwest England.

The EET hydrogen power plant will be developed in two phases, reaching a power generation capacity of 125 MW and providing 6,000 tons of steam per day. Hydrogen will replace hydrocarbons and reduce 740,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. The new plant will replace Stanlow's existing boiler units, which currently provide approximately 50 megawatts of electricity to the refinery's operations. The Stanlow refinery plans to reduce total emissions by 95% by 2030, making it the world's lowest carbon-emitting refinery.

However, existing "Hydrogen-ready" equipment (equipment that uses pure hydrogen or hydrogen blended fuels in energy systems) suggests that power plants can actually use fossil gases for uncertain periods of time. British blue hydrogen developers, including EET, are currently negotiating contracts with the government that will subsidize hydrogen production based on natural gas reference prices, which could improve the economic benefits of using hydrogen instead of natural gas at EET hydrogen power plants.

These negotiations are expected to conclude by September 2024, when the EET is expected to make a final investment decision on blue hydrogen production.