Shell signs up to Norwegian blue hydrogen: Update

Adds further comment from Aker Clean Hydrogen in paragraph 3

Shell has joined a Norwegian project that aims to produce blue hydrogen as a marine fuel.

Shell, Norwegian engineering firm Aker's clean hydrogen business and Norwegian energy infrastructure firm CapeOmega will develop a production facility in the municipality of Aukra. The hydrogen will be produced using gas from Shell's terminal at Nyhamna, in Aukra, where production from the Shell-operated offshore Ormen Lange field comes ashore.

The hydrogen could be used as a marine fuel by ships operating locally, Aker Clean Hydrogen said, and be exported to elsewhere in Europe. Hydrogen could be exported to Easington in the UK through an existing gas pipeline, and to the EU through a dedicated new pipeline, it said.

Aker Clean Hydrogen said that it is assessing hydrogen production capacity of 1.1GW or 2.6GW at the site. It aims to complete a pilot as early as 2024, full-scale operations by 2027 and a shift to green hydrogen beyond 2035.

Blue hydrogen, like that which would be produced at Aukra, is produced from a fossil fuel but the CO2 emissions are then captured and stored. How the CO2 from Aukra will be captured is yet to be decided, Aker Clean Hydrogen told Argus. But Shell is a member of the Northern Lights CO2 transportation and storage joint venture, which could play a role in the storage of Aukra's CO2 emissions, it said.

Aker Clean Hydrogen has previously said its sister company, Aker Carbon Capture, will be involved in the Aukra project.

In the absence of any carbon-capture measures the hydrogen would be classed as grey, and would lead to significant CO2 emissions during production. Green hydrogen, which is CO2 emission-free throughout its life cycle, is produced via the electrolysis of water using renewable energy to power the process.

Green hydrogen could be burned in an engine or used to produce green ammonia, another potential future shipping fuel.

The World Bank, and a group of major shipping nations including Norway and the US have urged a switch to fuels such as green hydrogen and green ammonia.

By George Collard