Essar forms JV for 1GW blue hydrogen project

Oil and gas firm forms joint venture with Progressive Energy for blue hydrogen project that will form part of UK’s Hynet cluster

Oil and gas firm Essar has launched a joint venture with technology company Progressive Energy to build a hydrogen hub at the Stanlow manufacturing complex in northwest England. The two firms have formed a joint venture, called Vertex Hydrogen, to pursue the venture. The blue hydrogen facility will form part of the Hynet low-carbon cluster and aims to produce a total of 1GW/yr of hydrogen across two units from 2026.  Waste fuel gases from Essar’s complex will be combined with natural gas as feedstocks for steam methane reforming, with carbon dioxide captured and stored underground offshore in Liverpool Bay by Hynet partner Italy’s Eni. “Essar is massively committed to investing in the energ