- INOVYN, a subsidiary of INEOS, is to upgrade existing low-carbon hydrogen supply to fuel transport in the UK and drive the country’s green transition to net-zero by 2050.
- This is part of more than €2bn investment in Green Hydrogen announced by INEOS earlier this week.
- Existing hydrogen production at INOVYN’s Runcorn site has the capacity to power over 1,000 buses or 2,000 trucks with low-carbon fuel.
- Geir Tuft, CEO INOVYN said: “Hydrogen-powered transport will play a critical role in the UK’s journey to net-zero. As the UK’s leading producer of low-carbon hydrogen, we’re perfectly positioned to drive down emissions reductions in the transport and industrial sector.”
INOVYN a subsidiary of INEOS has today announced investment plans to upgrade existing production at Runcorn so that it can supply compressed fuel-cell quality hydrogen to mobility and power generation sectors. This is part of more than €2bn investment in Green Hydrogen announced by INEOS earlier this week.
INOVYN, which has been producing and using low-carbon hydrogen at its Runcorn site for over 100 years, is set to ramp up supply of hydrogen to fuel the UKs transport network.
Specifically, the investment will deliver dedicated on-site facilities for the purification and compression of existing low carbon, fuel cell quality hydrogen for subsequent loading and transportation and distribution to fuelling stations across the UK.
Low-carbon hydrogen from Runcorn will help to decarbonise the UK and accelerate the drive to net-zero, confirming INOVYN’s position as the leading producer of low-carbon hydrogen in the UK.
Hydrogen production at Runcorn has the potential to provide low-carbon fuel to power over 1,000 buses or 2,000 trucks, where battery electric drive systems are not appropriate due to range, payload and critical refuelling times.
INOVYN is already Europe’s largest operator of electrolysis technology, which is used to make clean hydrogen. The investment at the site will kick-start the emerging hydrogen market and further support the North West’s regional commitment to carbon neutrality.
Geir Tuft, CEO INOVYN said: “Our expanding portfolio of clean hydrogen projects strengthens INOVYN’s sustainability strategy and supports the drive to net-zero across the UK and the rest of Europe. INOVYN is in a unique position to reaffirm its expertise in hydrogen production and electrolysis, and to progress the green energy transition through the use of clean hydrogen.”
The project builds on INOVYN’s hydrogen portfolio within the UK, including our involvement with consortiums such as HyNet North West, a clean hydrogen development project underpinned by INOVYN’s storage technology infrastructure to unlock a low-carbon energy for the North West of England and North Wales.
INOVYN and its parent company INEOS are involved in multiple projects across Europe to develop green hydrogen and to replace existing carbon-based sources of energy, feedstocks and fuel. The group will work closely with National and European Governments to facilitate hydrogen’s significant role in the new Green Economy.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Note to editors
- Runcorn produces 7,000 tonnes of hydrogen each year which is sufficient to fuel 1000 buses or 2000 trucks, used daily for that year.
- 1,000 buses is roughly the entire fleet of Liverpool City Region.
- INEOS as a whole produces around 400,000tonnes a year of hydrogen which would replace the equivalent to around 2 billion Litres of diesel.
- If applied to cars 400,000 tonnes of hydrogen would fuel around 1 million – 2 million cars every year.
Strategic gas storage
- Hydrogen gas storage project, for the HyNet Project by INOVYN consists of 19 proposed salt cavernsthat will be prepared specifically new build for hydrogen storage. Each cavern is approximately 350,000m3 in volume (roughly twice the size of Royal Albert Hall) Each cavern can store approximately 3000 tes of hydrogen. The total energy stored by the project will be 1.3TWh (1300GWh).
- Putting that into perspective, the largest Lithium Ion Battery Grid Scale storage project in the world is reported to be 1200MWh. 1000x smaller!!!
- So the INOVYN Hydrogen Storage will be 1000 times the size of the largest grid scale battery storage project (under construction) in the world. The second largest, now actually operating, Hornsdale Power Reserve is about 200MWh. 6000x smaller.
- 3TWh(HyKeuper) is approximately equal to 100million Tesla ® Powerwalls (home battery storage units) Or enough energy to make about 50 billion cups of tea (50,000million)
About INOVYN
INOVYN is an INEOS business. It is Europe's leading producer of vinyls and in the top three worldwide. With an annual turnover of €3.1 billion, INOVYN has circa 4,200 employees and chemical manufacturing, sales and marketing operations in 8 countries across Europe.
INOVYN’s portfolio consists of an extensive range of class-leading products arranged across General Purpose Vinyls; Specialty Vinyls; Organic Chlorine Derivatives; Chlor Alkali; Hydrogen and Vinyls Technologies. INOVYN's annual commercial production volume is circa 10 million tonnes.
See www.inovyn.com for more details.
About INEOS
INEOS is the world’s third largest chemicals company, employing around 26,000 people across 191 sites in 29 countries. It is a privately-owned company with sales of $61bn.
See www.ineos.com for more details.