Essar Oil, the operator of the Stanlow oil refinery in the UK, has announced a new 45 million pound investment to install the first refinery furnace capable of running on 100 per cent hydrogen fuel.

The refinery furnace will reduce Stanlow’s carbon emissions as a result of the energy efficiency of the design, saving 16,600 tonnes of CO2 per annum, the company said in a statement.

“This marks another significant milestone in Essar’s continued commitment to becoming the UK’s first low carbon refinery. It follows the launch of Vertex Hydrogen last month, a new Essar-led joint venture, in which the company will invest £1 billion over the next five years to drive down emissions, including the development of new hydrogen production plants at Stanlow, forming a central part of the HyNet North West decarbonisation cluster.”
Essar

The scheme, which would require planning approval, consists of decommissioning of three existing furnaces (which include a chimney of approximately 140 metres in height) and replacing them with a single, highly efficient furnace, with a chimney approximately 71 metres high.

Furnace Nears Installation

This will provide a number of improvements that will lead to benefits for Stanlow and the surrounding area, including lower carbon emissions due to gas-only firing and new burners that emit lower levels of Nitrogen Oxide. This will also serve to ensure future-proofing, thus enabling the use of sustainable fuel types later such as hydrogen.

“With an investment of £45 million, the new furnace forms a key part of the company’s strategy to reduce its own carbon emissions. The furnace is unique in that it will have the capability to run entirely off hydrogen, becoming the first of its kind based at a UK refinery.

“It has an improved energy efficiency of 4% compared to existing furnaces, which will save 16,600 tonnes of CO2 per annum, as well as reducing ongoing maintenance costs”.
Essar

The furnace, which is currently being constructed in Thailand is set to be installed in 2022, and will become fully operational next year. From 2026 onwards, it will be fueled by hydrogen produced at Stanlow as part of the HyNet North West decarbonisation cluster.

Essar’s new joint venture, Vertex Hydrogen, will develop the world’s first and largest blue hydrogen production plant at Stanlow. Hydrogen will be used at the site and distributed to industrial businesses in the region to support their own transition to low carbon.

Deepak Maheshwari, Chief Executive Officer at Essar Oil UK, commented:

“We have hugely ambitious plans for Stanlow and are committed to making it the UK’s first low carbon refinery. By affecting a significant and rapid transition to hydrogen, we are securing the long-term future of this vitally important national asset whilst also playing a key role in supporting the UK’s plans for building the low carbon economy of tomorrow.”
Deepak Maheshwari, CEO, Essar

Essar’s Stanlow refinery- which supplies 16 per cent of the UK’s road transport fuels- sits at the heart of HyNet North West. The scheme was designated as a Track 1 Industry Cluster by the government in October 2021 with plans to produce 1 Giga Watts (GW) per year of hydrogen- the equivalent to the domestic heating energy used by a major British city such as Liverpool.