Downstream energy firm Essar Oil UK will install a £45 million furnace at Stanlow, which will use hydrogen as its fuel.
This will be UK’s first refinery furnace to use 100% hydrogen fuel.
The furnace will be fully operational next year. From 2026, the furnace will be fuelled by hydrogen produced at Stanlow as part of the HyNet North West decarbonisation cluster.
The new furnace is part of the firm’s strategy to reduce its CO2 emissions. Running on hydrogen, the furnace will have improved energy efficiency of 4% over existing furnaces. It will reduce 16,000 tons of CO2 emissions each year and reduce maintenance costs.
The scheme is subject to planning approval. It will include the decommissioning of three existing furnaces and replacement with one, highly-efficient furnace. The new furnace will have a chimney with a height of approximately 71m. It will lower carbon emissions as it will be gas-fired and have new burners with lower levels of Nitrogen Oxide. The furnace will be fabricated in Thailand and delivered almost fully constructed.
Deepak Maheshwari, Chief Executive Officer at Essar Oil UK, said, “We have hugely ambitious plans for Stanlow and are committed to making it the UK’s first low carbon refinery. By affecting a significant and rapid transition to hydrogen, we are securing the long term future of this vitally important national asset whilst also playing a key role in supporting the UK’s plans for building the low carbon economy of tomorrow. We would like to thank our community for its ongoing support of our refinery at Stanlow.”
The Stanlow refinery supplies 16% of the road transport fuels in the UK. The initiative is the Track 1 Industry Cluster of the Government and aimed at generating 1 GW of hydrogen annually.
