The UK has ambitious plans for 2 Carbon Capture and Storage hubs. The LCCC Contract Management team, who will be taking these on, recently travelled up to the Hynet cluster based around Liverpool and Manchester for a tour of the producers and off-takers who will form the North-West Cluster.
The first stop was the Carrington power station which provides power to over a million homes in the Manchester area. Already one of the most thermally efficient gas burning plants in the UK, its 2 turbines will be converted to run on hydrogen from the end of the decade. This will provide a low carbon back up to generation from renewables.
The next stop was the future hydrogen production site at the enormous Essar refinery in Cheshire. This facility will produce 3.8 GW of the government’s target of 10 GW of hydrogen by 2030, making it by some way the largest producer in the country. The hydrogen fuel produced here will result in a reduction of emissions equivalent to taking 750,000 cars off the road.
Not done with PPE and day-glow clothing yet, it was onto the Hanson cement works in North Wales. Here the use of CCS will remove 700,000 tons of emissions per year, creating over 50 permanent jobs in the area.
The hydrogen team were able to stay for a second day and attended the Hydrogen Live event in Liverpool. Attended by the mayor of Liverpool, who spoke enthusiastically and knowledgeably of the benefits of carbon capture and hydrogen to the region, it was clear of the support in the region for these schemes.