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6 min ago 2 min read
Chemicals major Ineos has signed a preliminary blue hydrogen offtake deal with the Equinor-Engie joint venture H2BE for its Project One cracker in Antwerp, potentially marking one of Europe’s first large-scale industrial blue hydrogen supply deals.
Blue hydrogen produced by Engie and Equinor could be supplied via a pipeline from Ghent to Antwerp as Ineos intends to make its Project One facility the “first zero carbon steam cracker in Europe.”
The $4bn project has been billed as one of the largest European chemicals investments in recent decades and will produce 1.5 million tonnes of ethylene per year using 100% hydrogen as a fuel, with carbon capture also equipped.
Construction began three years ago and earlier this year was connected to its main electrical substation ahead of commissioning.
H2BE plans to build a 1GW blue hydrogen production plant along the . Based on autothermal reforming technology, the development could produce 210,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year while capturing 95% of carbon emissions.
It received a €159m ($182m) grant from the EU’s Innovation Fund and is due to begin operating by 2030.
While no volumes, timelines, or financial terms have been revealed, the offtake agreement could represent one of the first large-scale blue hydrogen deals in the EU.
It will also depend on the Belgian transmission system operator Fluxys, constructing a pipeline to connect the H2BE facility with Project One.
Last March, Fluxys began constructing the first phase of the country’s hydrogen pipeline network, despite the government withdrawing a €250 m ($286m) funding package.
