On Tuesday, energy major bp and chemicals giant Linde unveiled plans for a major carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Texas that will enable low carbon hydrogen production at existing facilities owned by Linde. The development will also support the storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from other industrial facilities, an initiative that the companies say could pave the way for large-scale decarbonization of the Texas Gulf Coast industrial corridor.
Upon completion, the project will capture and store CO2 from Linde’s hydrogen production facilities in the greater Houston area – and potentially from its other Texas facilities – to produce low carbon hydrogen for the region. The low carbon hydrogen will be sold to customers along Linde’s hydrogen pipeline network under long-term contracts to enable production of low carbon chemicals and fuels.
As part of the project, bp will appraise, develop and permit the geological storage sites for permanent sequestration of the CO2. bp’s trading & shipping business aims to bring custom low carbon solutions to the project, including renewable power and certified natural gas, along with commodity trading and price risk management expertise.
Linde says it will use its proprietary technology and operational expertise to capture and compress the CO2 from its hydrogen production facilities for the project. The company’s extensive infrastructure of hydrogen production facilities and its storage cavern connected through its pipeline network across the Texas Gulf Coast, this project will enable Linde to supply cost-effective, reliable low carbon hydrogen and, together with bp, provide carbon capture and storage solutions.
“The energy expertise in Texas and strong supply chains have been generations in the making,” bp America chairman and president Dave Lawler said. “This new low carbon energy project will help us leverage those strengths for the next chapter of the energy transition. In particular, it can help decarbonize hard-to-abate industries for the greatest potential impact on emissions while protecting jobs. bp is proud to support this project as we continue delivering on our own strategy and net zero ambition.”
The project will be a further important step in the development of bp’s low carbon business. bp is evaluating large-scale CCS and hydrogen projects for industrial clusters in the US and already is in action on Teesside, the industrial heart of the United Kingdom.
“Linde is committed to lowering absolute carbon emissions 35 percent by 2035 and reaching climate neutrality by 2050. Capturing the CO2 from our hydrogen production plants in the Houston area will be a significant step towards achieving these goals,” Linde Gases North America Dan Yankowski said.
“We are excited to bring Linde’s leading technology portfolio and infrastructure to support this project and make low carbon hydrogen available to our customers in the Gulf Coast. More broadly, Linde is well positioned to enable similar projects, be it in the Gulf Coast where we operate two hydrogen pipelines and a hydrogen storage cavern or elsewhere in the US,” he added.
The overall development, expected to be operational as early as 2026, will also enable capture and storage of CO2 from other large industrial facilities in the region and could ultimately store up to 15 million metric tons per year across multiple onshore geologic storage sites – equivalent to taking approximately 3 million cars off the road each year.
