France and Germany have intensified their cooperation as Europe’s two leading economies want to reconcile after a dispute over the future role of nuclear and gas. Both governments will set up joint working groups next week to look into increasing the EU's energy independence and supply security as well as investment in green fuels.
BP has reported a profit of $12.8 billion for 2021, the highest in eight years, as commodity prices soared during the post-pandemic economy rebound. Shifting focus, the British oil major aims to earn $9-10 billion from “resilient hydrocarbons” by 2030 – mostly from bioenergy, electric vehicle charging, renewables and hydrogen.
Vancouver-based Ekona Power has closed C$79 million (US$62.37m) equity funding to support the commercial readiness of its methane pyrolysis technology to produce clean, low-cost hydrogen. Led by Baker Hughes, the round also received investment from Mitsui, Severstal, ConocoPhillips, TransAlta, Continental Resources, NGIF Cleantech, and BDC Capital.
INEOS has invited engineering design contractors to bid into a tender for a carbon-capture enabled hydrogen production plant at its Grangemouth refinery. Moving to low-carbon fuels, INEOS will burn hydrogen at the refinery’s onsite power station, due commissioned in late 2023 and set to drive down emissions by at least 150,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
Blue hydrogen, imported from Norway, could help Germany bridge a transition period until a full supply of green hydrogen becomes available. "We can continue to deliver gas and hydrogen but with the carbon stored away safely," Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Store said, referring to ample potential for CCS in depleted oil fields under the North Sea.
Plans for H2H Saltend, Equinor’s 600 MW hydrogen production with carbon capture, have been submitted into the UK government’s cluster sequencing process. Six industrial operators back the project: Centria Storage, INEOS Acetyls, Pensana, Triton Power, Vital Energi and Vivergo Fuels. Application for H2H Saltend is now in phase-2, with results expected around May 2022.
Green hydrogen (H2), made from renewable energy, could get three-fourth cheaper as China invests in boosting output. H2 was last trading at $6 per kilo, but Shell Hydrogen anticipates the cost could drop to about $1.40 to $2.30/kg by 2030 in regions with abundant wind and solar power such as northwest China, the Middle East and Australia.
Jan 18 – Texas-based Cresta Fund Management has agreed to finance Lapis Energy’s CCS and clean hydrogen projects. The two partners are now looking to identify, design and develop projects for the permanent sequestration of CO2, targeting customers within the heavy industry and petrochemical companies.
China may triple electricity generation to cover 60%, instead of currently 23% of total energy demand to reach Net Zero by 2060, Royal Dutch Shell reckons. The oil major also predicts green hydrogen to play a key part in China’s future energy mix as the country’s carbon price will quadruple to 1,300 yuan ($204.82) per tonne in 2060.