Essar Oil’s green plans for Ellesmere Port shortlisted
UK GOVERNMENT’S MOVE BRINGS LOW-CARBON PROJECTS CLOSER
INDIAN conglomerate Essar’s UK arm, Essar Oil (UK), is celebrating a turning point in its transition to low carbon operations after the UK government shortlisted the construction of a new hydrogen project and separate carbon capture project at its site in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, in north-west England.
Essar Oil UK’s Carbon Dioxide Capture Unit is among 20 shortlisted projects announced last week by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
“Essar Oil UK continues to deliver on its promise of leading the UK’s low carbon transition,” said Deepak Maheshwari, chief executive officer at Essar Oil UK.
“Our programme of major investment is decarbonising our own operations and supporting the development of low carbon economy across the north west [England] and north Wales, creating thousands of jobs and securing the long-term future of this crucial facility,” he said.
Essar said the new hydrogen plant will help the company deliver its goal of producing 3.8 GW of low carbon hydrogen by the end of the decade – almost 40 per cent of the government’s recently extended target of achieving 10 GW by 2030.
Part of HyNet, the carbon capture plant is being built by Vertex Hydrogen and is expected to significantly reduce CO2 emissions every year.
The company said the two projects form part of its £1-billion investment in a range of energy efficiency, low carbon energy and carbon storage initiatives, designed to decarbonise its production processes.
Essar said it has plans underway to reduce its emissions by 90 per cent before the end of the decade.
As part of the company’s ongoing investment, Essar announced plans in February to install a new £45-million furnace, capable of running 100 per cent on hydrogen – the first of its kind in the UK.
The furnace will arrive at Stanlow this month via the Manchester Canal, becoming fully operational in 2023. It will deliver major improvements to onsite energy efficiency and has the potential to reduce 242,000 tonnes of CO2 every year once it is powered by hydrogen from 2026.
Meanwhile, Essar Oil UK last week also announced a five-year, 60 million litre fuel deal with Shropshire-based family-run business DA Roberts.
The deal will see DA Roberts’ Gridley Brook garage in Whitchurch in the West Midlands rebranded as an Essar outlet, enabling the business to buy fuel direct from its manufacturing source to “improve efficiencies and bring economies of scale savings”.
“Grindley Brook garage is one of the largest dealer sites in the UK,” said James Hughes, territory manager at Essar Oil UK.