Hydrogen

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Hydrogen is abundant and it’s key to fuelling heavy industry in a net zero world

Hydrogen at bp

We believe hydrogen will play a vital role in a net zero energy system. When pure hydrogen is used as fuel, it combines with oxygen to produce water, emitting no CO₂. If we can decarbonize its production, it becomes a great energy choice for industries that are hard to abate, such as, iron, steel and chemicals. And for heavy transport – trucks, ships and aircraft – which needs fuels that can manage the load while fitting into a small space on board.

bp is putting plans in place today to bring low carbon hydrogen into service where it really counts, close to industrial clusters.

We’re in action now to grow our hydrogen business, investing in between five and 10 projects around the world. By 2030, we aim to produce 0.5-0.7 million tonnes of low carbon hydrogen per year.

On this page

Where is bp investing in hydrogen? From local, to regional, to global

What’s the difference between blue and green hydrogen?

Why is bp investing in both blue and green hydrogen?

Hydrogen news and stories

“By 2050, in a net zero energy system, hydrogen’s share in global energy demand could approach what natural gas has today.” Felipe Arbelaez, SVP, hydrogen and CCS

bp is backing low carbon hydrogen – a key enabler to decarbonize hard-to-abate industry

bp’s hydrogen pipeline

bp has a global project pipeline of 1.8 million tonnes per annum of hydrogen production capacity

Developing projects

Developing projects around the world, including in Germany, Spain, Australia, the UK and US

Australian Renewable Energy Hub

Project spotlight

At full scale, the AREH could produce 1.6 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year for the domestic market and export

HyGreen Teesside & H2Teesside

Project spotlight

The two projects aim to produce up to 500MW of green hydrogen and 1GW of blue hydrogen by 2030 – enough to meet 15% of the UK government’s hydrogen target

HyVal

Project spotlight

By 2030, HyVal aims to develop up to 2GW of electrolysis capacity at bp’s Castellón refinery for the production of green hydrogen

2030 aim

By 2030, we aim to produce 0.5-0.7 million tonnes (net) of low carbon hydrogen per year

Where is bp investing in hydrogen? From local, to regional, to global

Initially we plan to supply our own refineries – decarbonizing our own operations – as well as selling to local third parties, before ramping up production to turn these into regional hubs. These hubs will provide low carbon energy solutions for customers, particularly in hard-to-abate industrial sectors and heavy transport where hydrogen can have the most impact.

As markets evolve, we plan to invest in building global export hubs for hydrogen, and for hydrogen derivatives, such as ammonia. Here, our experience of moving gas through pipelines, integrating renewables into our portfolio and transporting LNG on water will accelerate our route to market for hydrogen and ammonia.

Find out more about our distinctive trading & shipping capability.

What’s the difference between blue and green hydrogen?

Green hydrogen, commonly defined as electrolytic low carbon hydrogen, is made by water electrolysis using renewables, such as solar or wind.
Blue hydrogen, or CCS-enabled low carbon hydrogen, is hydrogen that is extracted from natural gas but the vast majority of CO₂ produced during the process is captured and stored permanently underground.

Why is bp investing in both blue and green hydrogen?

We believe a twin-track approach, involving both electrolytic (green) and CCS-enabled (blue) hydrogen, is the best way to help fulfil hydrogen’s potential. This approach aligns with bp’s Net Zero Scenario within our Energy Outlook, which forecasts that virtually all hydrogen will be either electrolytic (around 70%) or CCS-enabled (around 30%) by 2050.

Significant challenges need to be overcome to establish the industry. Electrolysers need to be built and supplied with renewable energy. A pipeline network needs to be established to move the molecule. Technology and infrastructure need to be developed to transport hydrogen by sea. And production needs to scale quickly to bring down the cost of low carbon hydrogen.

CCS-enabled hydrogen represents an important stepping-stone to scaling up the hydrogen economy. That’s because it enables the near-term development of large-scale hydrogen projects that can make an immediate impact on emissions, and at lower cost than a green hydrogen project of a similar scale.

While additional renewable energy and large-scale electrolyser technology is being developed to generate electrolytic hydrogen at scale, low carbon CCS-enabled hydrogen will play an important role in allowing industries to decarbonize. CCS-enabled hydrogen complements the intermittent renewable power that drives electrolytic hydrogen. That’s why we’re calling for policy and financial support for both low carbon hydrogen technologies.