ExxonMobil Spearheads Carbon Capture Hub in U.K.

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--U.S. petrochemical major Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) (Irving, Texas) has announced plans for a carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) hub on the U.K.'s south coast.

Dubbed the Solent Cluster, ExxonMobil is joined in its efforts by a wide array of partners including biofuel makers, aviation and maritime firms and the University of Southampton. Comprising a major shipping lane, the Solent region is one of biggest industrial regions in southern England and also one of its biggest CO2 emitters according to government figures. ExxonMobil expects the hub to be able to capture almost all of that CO2 at a rate of roughly 3 million metric tonnes per year when fully operational later this decade. The goal will be to develop a new hydrogen and lower-carbon fuel facility creating sustainable fuels for marine, aviation and transport as well as providing low-carbon energy to heat homes, businesses, and public buildings.

ExxonMobil's 270,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Fawley refinery will sit at the heart of the efforts. Industrial Info is tracking two projects that involve the construction of a hydrogen production unit to produce blue hydrogen for the refinery and the surrounding area with a capacity of 3.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year. It will also include a carbon capture unit with a capacity of 2 million tonnes of CO2 annually.

"The Solent is recognised as one of the leading contributors of CO2 emissions with approximately 3.2 million metric tons of CO2 emissions released from energy-intensive manufacturing processes every year," explained Lindsay-Marie Armstrong, academic cluster lead for the Solent Industrial Decarbonisation Cluster at the University of Southampton. "To form a decarbonisation cluster that spans the public, private and higher education sectors is a monumental step forward for the region. It will introduce sustainable fuels for local transportation, the aviation and the shipping sectors; create low carbon energy to heat homes, businesses and public buildings; and open up new highly skilled jobs opportunities."

"This is an important opportunity to decarbonise the Solent region, and we are proud to be a part of this collaborative effort to significantly reduce CO2 emissions from multiple sectors,'' added Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions.

This is the company's second planned carbon capture hub after the Houston, Texas, project announced last April. With a growing number of companies now attached to the initiative, plans are advancing for a large-scale carbon capture hub that would capture and store up to 50 million metric tons of CO2 per year from Houston-area industrial plants by 2030, and up to 100 million metric tons by 2040.

Last month, Industrial Info reported that oil and gas company BP plc (NYSE:BP) (London, England) submitted a bid to the U.K. government to build the country's largest green hydrogen facility, targeting the transportation sector. Located at the Teesside industrial region in northern England--the focus of a number of planned carbon capture hub initiatives--HyGreen Teesside will start with 80 megawatts (MW) of installed hydrogen production, to be expanded to 500 MW after that--equivalent to 5% of the U.K.'s stated hydrogen target of 10 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. For additional information, see October 25, 2022, article - BP Submits Bid for U.K.'s Largest Green Hydrogen Plant.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).