Essar selects technology partner for UK carbon capture facility

Essar Oil UK on Friday said that it has selected the second key licensor technology provider, Topsoe, for the planned EET Industrial Carbon Capture (ICC) facility based at Stanlow in the UK.

Topsoe will provide its sustainable flue-gas treatment technology SNOX, the company said.

“This is a pivotal step towards Essar Oil UK’s $1.2-billion investment in decarbonising the refinery by reducing around 2 million tonnes of CO2 (95 per cent) emissions, making it the world’s first low carbon refinery and a producer of low carbon fuels,” it added.

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Essar Oil UK CEO Deepak Maheshwari said the company is ready to move into the next phase of Essar Oil UK’s decarbonisation strategy. With an investment of $1.2 billion, Essar Oil UK is positioned to be the world’s first low carbon refinery.

“The industrial carbon capture facility, combined with our upcoming hydrogen fuel switching project, will reduce the refinery’s CO2 emissions by 95 per cent. Topsoe is a valuable partner in this endeavour. With Topsoe SNOX technology we are getting a well proven and highly sustainable flue-gas treatment,” he added.

Decarbonisation strategy

With the selection of Topsoe and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Essar Oil UK has identified most of its technology partners and is ready to progress to the front-end engineering design (FEED) phase of the project. Development of the basic engineering design packages (BEDP) for the licensed technologies is already ongoing.

“The agreement represents a landmark step for Topsoe’s development in the UK, and we look forward to working with Essar on this important project, which is a great example of how the fossil industry can decarbonise itself,” Topsoe CCO Elena Scaltritti said.

Essar’s overall decarbonisation strategy plans to reduce refinery emissions with two projects. The first is the industrial carbon capture (ICC) announced at Stanlow in November 2022, which aims to be operational by 2028. The project will result in an annual emissions reduction of around 1 million tonnes of CO2.

The second project is on hydrogen fuel switching from natural gas to hydrogen as fuel source, resulting in an annual emissions reduction of around 1 million tonnes of CO2.

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