Equinor awards Linde major FEED contract advancing H2H Saltend low carbon hydrogen project

The Equinor site at Saltend.

Energy company Equinor has awarded a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract for H2H Saltend to Linde Engineering, and an operation and maintenance service contract to BOC.

Linde Engineering together with BOC, both Linde companies, participated in a design competition to provide proposals for FEED with options for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) and Operation and Maintenance for the first five years (subject to EPC option being exercised).

H2H Saltend is a 600-megawatt low carbon hydrogen production plant with carbon capture, the first of its kind and scale, helping to establish the Humber as an international hub for low carbon hydrogen. The plant design will use Linde Engineering’s hydrogen and air separation technologies, which will be combined with UK-based Johnson Matthey’s LCH™ technology. The plant will be operated and maintained by BOC, drawing on decades of operational experience in the region and across the UK.

Due to be operational by 2027 and sited at the energy intensive Saltend Chemicals Park, to the east of Hull, it will help to reduce the park’s emissions by up to one third. To achieve this, low carbon hydrogen will directly replace natural gas in several industrial facilities reducing the carbon intensity of their products, as well as being blended into natural gas at the Equinor and SSE Thermal’s on-site Triton power station. The amount of CO2 stored will be around 890,000 tonnes per year equivalent to taking about 500,000 cars off the road annually.

H2H Saltend is the kick-starter project for the wider Zero Carbon Humber scheme, which will provide regional infrastructure from Easington to Drax. The infrastructure will transport hydrogen to industrial customers seeking to reduce their emissions whilst also capturing carbon dioxide for safe sub-sea storage as part of the East Coast Cluster. These proposals aim to make the Humber, currently the UK’s most carbon intensive industrial region, net-zero by 2040.

The project also forms part of Equinor’s wider ‘Hydrogen to Humber’ ambition to deliver 1.8 gigawatts of low carbon hydrogen production within the region, nearly 20% of the UK’s national target.

Linde is a global leader in the production, processing, storage and distribution of hydrogen. It has installed over 200 hydrogen fuelling stations and 80 hydrogen electrolysis plants worldwide. The company offers the latest hydrogen technologies through its world-class engineering organization, which has proven capability in engineering, procurement and construction of large plants. As the UK's largest hydrogen supplier, BOC has proven ability in the safe and reliable operation of hydrogen plants and also has a strong presence in the Humber region.

Asbjørn Haugsgjerd, Equinor’s Project Director for the H2H Saltend project, said:

“We are delighted to be working alongside Linde, who have demonstrated their expertise and commitment throughout the rigorous selection process over the last year and through their previous work with this technology and operations.

H2H Saltend is a vital first step in creating a low carbon hydrogen economy and achieving net zero in the Humber, safeguarding local industries and creating greater opportunities, whilst helping the UK to tackle climate change. With Linde Engineering, BOC and Johnson Matthey on board we are even better positioned to deliver this vision.”