In focus: Energy players in strategic moves to net-zero

This week witnessed prominent industry players teaming up worldwide for energy transition projects and decarbonising their production and operations.

Many companies across the industry realise that by teaming up they can achieve the climate goals faster and ensure that energy transition mechanisms become cheaper and more attainable.

Such an example is given by a number of oil players joining forces to develop large carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities in the North Sea. Oil and gas company Neptune Energy teamed up with energy firms ExxonMobil, Rosewood and EBN to progress the L10 large-scale offshore CCS project in the Dutch North Sea. This collaboration brings together the technical and commercial capabilities necessary to create a large carbon storage offering for industrial customers.

Lex de Groot, Neptune Energy’s managing director in the Netherlands, said: “CCS is crucial for achieving the Dutch climate goals for 2030. This cooperation agreement is a significant step in the development of the Neptune-operated L10 project which supports our strategy to go beyond net-zero and store more carbon than is emitted from our operations, scope 1, and sold products, scope 3, by 2030.”

According to Neptune, this stage of the L10 CCS project has the potential to store 4-5 million tonnes of CO2 annually for industrial customers. The company confirmed that this represents the first stage in the potential development of the greater L10 area as a large-volume CO2 storage reservoir.

The next step of this collaboration is to develop one of the largest CCS facilities in the North Sea.

In Germany, energy company RWE and steel producer ArcelorMittal agreed to develop, build and operate offshore wind farms and hydrogen facilities that will supply the renewable energy and green hydrogen required to produce low-emissions steel in the country.

This collaboration is to push forward the production of carbon-neutral steel. The plan is to replace coal with wind power and green hydrogen as the main source of energy in steel production at ArcelorMittal’s steelmaking sites in Germany. To decarbonise its production sites in Bremen, Hamburg, Eisenhüttenstadt, and Duisburg as planned, ArcelorMittal Germany needs renewable energy on a large scale.

RWE and ArcelorMittal also want to work together on the development of green hydrogen, by jointly looking for areas where electrolysis plants can be built to supply the steel production sites in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt, starting with a 70 MW pilot plant by 2026 with the clear intention to increase to gigawatt-scale projects in the long term.

”Electricity from renewable energies and green hydrogen must become the hallmark of industrial production in Germany,” said Sven Utermöhlen, CEO Offshore Wind, RWE Renewables.

 In order to achieve its goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2040, RWE needs to decarbonise its supply chain, and the use of low-emissions steel will make an important contribution to this.

East of England saw forming of a first-of-its-kind hydrogen cluster centered on core electrolyser projects, called Hydrogen East. Working in partnership with public and private sectors, this body wants to identify options to deliver a viable route map that sees East Anglia as a leading hydrogen region.

The body, so far, includes the following members: New Anglia Energy, Opergy, EDF Energy, TCP ECO, and CPH2. Arup, EEEGR, New Anglia LEP, and ORE Catapult.

This region aspires to become the UK’s Clean Growth Region, as originally outlined in the Local Industrial Strategy. Energy giants, including ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall, have already received the go-ahead for projects in the offshore wind sector as well as new nuclear being developed by EDF at Sizewell C. 

Initially, the proposal outlines six “core” electrolyser sites across Norfolk and Suffolk, paving the way for development and improved infrastructure to be implemented and then further scaled as the demand for clean hydrogen grows.

Also taking place in the UK, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) announced the development of a new screening tool to help maximise the repurposing of oil and gas infrastructure for energy transition projects.

The UK’s oil and gas regulator intends to initially send the tool to 20 companies operating a total of 120 fields which are nearing or have reached the end of their production lives and therefore, meet the criteria. Then, their submissions will be reviewed and cross-checked against the NSTA’s data. The regulator will work with operators to explore options in detail and help overcome any barriers to repurposing.

Italian oil and gas company Eni intends to reuse and repurpose existing pipelines and platforms for its Liverpool Bay CCS project, part of the HyNet CCS and hydrogen scheme.

It is believed that repurposing can make a huge contribution to the UK’s drive to net-zero, potentially generating multibillion-pound savings across CCS and hydrogen schemes which would otherwise require new equipment.

As part of the UK’s net-zero drive, this week we saw the UK ports sector has called on the government to supercharge the delivery of energy network infrastructure to ports with new research and a transformational funding programme.

The call came as the sector’s trade associations, the British Ports Association and the UK Major Ports Group, released a summary of data produced by The Center for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) that demonstrates the huge positive impact ports have on boosting jobs and prosperity around the UK’s coast.

UK ports have already committed to playing their foundational role in the UK’s transition to a net-zero future. They are already investing significantly in zero and low emissions equipment and energy generation.

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