UKPIA welcomes investments in hydrogen

UKPIA welcomes the recent UK Government announcement of £166 million towards green technology projects. The association is particularly pleased to see the investment in hydrogen as a primary decarbonisation technology for manufacturing processes.
As part of this announcement, it has been confirmed Essar Oil (UK) Limited will receive a grant of over £7 million towards the upgrade of a distillation unit with a new, net zero ready furnace at Stanlow. Phillips 66 Limited will also receive a grant of over £500,000 towards research into fuel switching in the Humber refinery’s gas fired heaters, to see how greater use could be made of hydrogen in that process.
Find out more about Essar Oil UK’s project here.
Whilst hydrogen is already an important part of the refining process, use of low carbon hydrogen would result in significant reductions of emissions at the refinery and, therefore, across the lifecycle of all of its products.
UKPIA eagerly awaits the publication of the UK Government’s Hydrogen Strategy to help industry further to align long-term investment decisions with a low carbon future.
UKPIA director-general, Stephen Marcos Jones, comments:

Stephen Marcos Jones, UKPIA director-general

“UKPIA welcomes this announcement of funding for hydrogen as a low carbon fuel source.
“There are multiple opportunities for hydrogen to decarbonise parts of the economy, from transport to home heating and especially in decarbonising heavy manufacturing processes – clean hydrogen technology is likely to play an important role.
“The instrumental role of UKPIA members in decarbonisation projects, especially as some of the largest producers and users of hydrogen in the UK, should not be underplayed. The sector is a committed and important partner in reaching net zero.
“UKPIA looks forward to continued close engagement with governments on hydrogen opportunities for the downstream sector, so that an enabling policy framework can continue to be developed and ensure the UK’s net zero goal is met efficiently and in a way that is economically sustainable.”