Saica and Novelis have expressed interest in using hydrogen in their facilities in the North West of England.
Indian firm Essar revealed that the companies are among a number of businesses across the North West that are investigating being supplied with hydrogen from its proposed hydrogen hub on the banks of the River Mersey.
Essar has formed Vertex Hydrogen with Progressive Energy to build the UK’s largest hydrogen hub at the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Cheshire.
Vertex Hydrogen will provide 1GW of hydrogen from 2026 to users across North West England and North Wales. This is equivalent to the domestic heating needs of a city such as Liverpool.
Waste fuel gases from the oil refinery at Stanlow and natural gas will be converted into hydrogen with carbon dioxide captured by Eni and stored underground offshore in Liverpool Bay.
The hydrogen will be used to replace fossil fuels in the HyNet North West region, which is a cluster that includes Liverpool, Manchester, Chester and Wrexham and all locations within the region.
This hydrogen will power industry, but will also be used to heat homes, fuel buses, trains and trucks.
A total investment of £1 billion will be made in the hydrogen production hub at Stanlow.
Saica has a mill in Manchester, while Novelis operates its aluminium recycling facility in Warrington.
Essar chairman Prashant Ruia said: “Essar is massively committed to investing in energy transition and is building a portfolio of companies in this space. Vertex Hydrogen is a central component of that vision, which will be instrumental in helping create a hydrogen future for North West England and North East Wales. This will see over £1 billion of investment, thereby creating jobs and supporting local communities for decades to come.”
The proposed HyNet network for hydrogen
