RE: Bigger Cash Pile on the way30 Jun 2022 21:18
A Hull power station is set to be switched from using natural gas to hydrogen under new owners.
The Triton combined cycle gas turbine plant at Saltend provides electricity during periods of low output from solar and wind. It also generates power and steam for the adjacent Saltend Chemicals Park next to the River Humber.
Now a major change in the way it operates has been confirmed as a part of a £341m deal by energy firms Equinor and SSE Thermal to buy power company Triton Power from its owners Energy Capital Partners (ECP). Along with the facility at Saltend, Triton also operates two other power stations in Cornwall and Wales.
Under the deal, Equinor and SSE say they aim to convert the Saltend power station to use up to 30 percent hydrogen by 2027. Their long-term ambition is to eventually switch to an all-hydrogen system.
The idea is for hydrogen to be supplied to the power station from Equinor's existing H2H Saltend project, which aims to reform natural gas into hydrogen by carbon capture and storage. By making the power station an anchor customer, the companies would then roll out low-carbon hydrogen as an alternative to coal as an energy supply for industrial use elsewhere while producing greener power for the National Grid.