Equinor Energy has given a feasibility study contract to Jacobs Engineering Group to assess the possibility of constructing a hydrogen production plant in the Netherlands.
Image: Jacobs Engineering won a contract to study feasibility of a hydrogen production plant for the Magnum power plant. Photo courtesy of Koos Boertjens/Vattenfall.
The Norwegian company also wants to assess whether CO2 capture and export facilities can also be built along with the hydrogen production plant in Eemshaven.
According to Jacobs Engineering, Equinor will be using the hydrogen produced from the new plant for fueling an existing natural gas-fired power plant called Magnum owned by Vattenfall. The Magnum gas power plant is planned to be converted into a hydrogen-fueled power plant that will be designed to have large scale reduction in carbon emissions.
In last July, Equinor had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vattenfall and Gasunie to evaluate the possibility of converting the 1.3GW Magum gas power plant into a hydrogen-powered plant.
Gasunie’s role in the collaboration will be to examine the infrastructure for transport and storage required for the hydrogen-fueled power plant.
Jacobs Engineering said that the feasibility study will focus on the objective of choosing the most effective reformer technology for producing hydrogen and also a suitable CO2 capture technology.
The company will also provide the conceptual design of the hydrogen production plant for the purpose of economic evaluation and further project definition.
Jacobs Engineering revealed that to avoid CO2 emissions from the hydrogen production process, a maximum of three million tons per year of CO2 will be captured and subsequently liquefied for transporting to Norway.
In Norway, the liquefied CO2 will be injected and stored in an off-shore reservoir.
Jacobs senior vice president and energy and chemicals EMEA general manager David Zelinski said: “Getting the opportunity to work with Equinor to study the possibilities of gas-to-hydrogen conversion and contribute to a significant CO2 reduction is meaningful to Jacobs in many ways.
“The award enables us to leverage our expertise in gas processing and aligns perfectly with our vision to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to our clients.”