BASF and bp sign agreement for H2Teesside blue hydrogen facility

bp and BASF, one of the world's leading chemical companies, have signed a licence agreement for the use of BASF's  OASE white technology to capture carbon dioxide at bp’s proposed blue hydrogen facility, H2Teesside.

BASF have been supporting H2Teesside since Autumn 2023 and their engineering delivery package is already well advanced.

H2Teesside aims to be one of the UK’s largest blue hydrogen production facilities, targeting 1.2GW of hydrogen production by 2030, equating to over 10% of the UK Government’s hydrogen target of 10GW by the same year. Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas, with the carbon dioxide also generated captured for storage.

It is one of three remarkable bp projects here, alongside HyGreen, which will produce green hydrogen using renewable power such as solar or wind, and the flagship Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power), a pioneering gas-fired power station with carbon capture technology.

BASF’s OASE  white is a proven technology in many ammonia, hydrogen and carbon monoxide plants across the world, and will bring improved energy efficiency to the blue hydrogen production process while achieving a CO2 capture rate of up to 99.99%

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Carbon capture at H2Teesside could capture and send for storage of approximately two million tonnes of CO₂ per year via the bp-led Northern Endurance partnership, the CO2 transportation and storage company that will deliver the onshore and offshore infrastructure needed to capture carbon from a range of emitters across Teesside and the Humber.

Will Harrison-Cripps, H2Teesside Asset Development Lead at bp, said: “This agreement marks another critical milestone for H2Teesside as the project builds momentum and continues to move towards commercial operations, planned for 2028.

"Along with its sister project HyGreen Teesside, H2Teesside could play a critical role in decarbonising industry and heavy transport on Teesside, helping to transform the region into a leading hydrogen hub and kickstart the UK’s low carbon hydrogen economy.”

Will Harrison-Cripps at Teesworks (Image: bp)

Glenn Langguth of BASF said: “We are proud to work with bp on this important project with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions. Our technology is a proven and established solution for this kind of carbon capture technology. Our portfolio of gas treating technologies is characterised by high energy efficiency and is perfectly suited to help our customers achieve their sustainability targets.”

In March 2023, H2Teeside was selected as one of three Track-1 Capture Projects to proceed to negotiations for UK Government funding support from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, for the East Coast Cluster and in October, bp also announced it had signed a licensing and engineering agreement for Johnson Matthey’s LCH blue hydrogen technology, which will enable the hydrogen production element of the process.

bp has said it intends to invest up to £18 billion in the UK’s energy system by the end of 2030. As one of the largest oil and gas producers in the UK, it will continue investing in North Sea oil and gas, while working to drive down operational emissions.

BASF has more than 111,000 employees in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Its portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions, generating sales of €87.3 billion in 2022.