bp moves forward with HyGreen Teesside

In the UK, bp has submitted a bid for its proposed large-scale green hydrogen plant, HyGreen Teesside, to the UK Government’s Hydrogen Business Model (HBM) and Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF). Both the HMB and NZHF seek to set up the UK’s low-carbon hydrogen economy and support commercial development. The company also established four new Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) regarding the use of green hydrogen in businesses and communities.  bp’s planned green hydrogen plant, HyGreen Teesside, has the potential to be one of the biggest green hydrogen facilities in the UK. The plant is targeting production by 2025, with an initial planned phase of 80MWe of installed hydrogen production capacity. There is a possibility that HyGreen Teesside could play a major role in assisting the UK with its net-zero goals, aiming to deliver up to 5% of the UK’s hydrogen target of 10GW by 2030, when its planned expansion of up to 500MWe is reached.  

The green hydrogen plant will provide enough low-carbon hydrogen to power the equivalent of 10,000 Heavy Goods Vehicles, subsequently positioning Teesside as the UK’s first major hydrogen transport hub.  

The company also confirmed that four new MoUs have been signed with local industry for the potential use of green hydrogen in businesses and communities, building on two MoUs agreed upon previously. 

One of the MoU’s signed was with Northern Gas Networks (NGN), which positions bp as the preferred supplier for the majority of hydrogen to NGN’s Hydrogen Village in Redcar from 2025. This involves switching the gas supply to clean-burning hydrogen for around 2,000 homes and businesses in parts of Redcar. 

An MoU was also signed with Ensus, an operator of one of Europe’s largest renewable ethanol production plants at Wilton on Teesside. This potentially will allow hydrogen that is produced by bp’s proposed hydrogen plant in Teesside to be used at the ethanol production plants, replacing natural gas. The MoU with Ensus represents that there is a demand for hydrogen from hard-to-abate sectors. 

Tees Valley Lithium, which plans to build one of Europe’s first lithium hydroxide processing facilities, also signed an MoU with bp regarding the potential use of hydrogen to support its objective of supplying the world’s lowest carbon lithium hydroxide. This will assist in the decarbonisation of Europe’s production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries.  

A new MoU with Sembcorp Energy UK was signed for the supply of green hydrogen to explore decarbonisation options for some of its assets at Wilton International on Teesside. 

MoUs were previously signed for the potential supply of low-carbon hydrogen from HyGreen Teesside or bp’s H2Teesside CCUS-enabled hydrogen plant with CF Fertiliser and Venator. The company’s planned hydrogen plants, and growing customer interest, support bp’s goal of creating a low-carbon hydrogen centre in the Northeast of England.