Essar to invest $3.6bn in low carbon projects in UK, India
Essar Group on February 27 announced the formation of Essar Energy Transition (EET) to invest $3.6bn in developing a range of low-carbon energy transition projects in the UK and India.
Out of the total $3.6bn, EET will invest $2.4bn across Essar's site at Stanlow, between Liverpool and Manchester, and $1.2bn in India over the next five years.
EET will include Essar Oil UK, the company’s refining and marketing business in England; Vertex Hydrogen, which is developing 1 GW of blue hydrogen for the UK market, with follow-on capacity set to reach 3.8GW; EET Future Energy, which is developing 1 GW of green ammonia in India, targeted at UK and international markets; Stanlow Terminals, which is developing storage and pipeline infrastructure; and EET Biofuels, which is investing in developing low carbon biofuels.
Essar Group said investments in the UK will contribute to north west England becoming one of the leading post-carbon industrial clusters in Europe. “EET believes that these investments will support the reduction of around 3.5mn metric tons of carbon dioxide, around 20% of the total industrial emissions in northwest England,” it said.
The Stanlow refinery itself will achieve a 75% reduction in carbon emissions before the end of this decade as part of EET’s decarbonisation plans, Essar said.
In India, EET will plan a global supply hub for low-carbon fuels, including green hydrogen and green ammonia. Ammonia will be shipped from India to the UK, Europe and globally to meet expanding market demand for green hydrogen, Essar Group said.
Essar Group added it is now investing in new forward-looking assets with modern, efficient, and ESG-compliant technologies to last for several decades. Other sustainability investments planned beyond EET include the creation of an LNG value chain in India, including LNG truck manufacturing and LNG fuel stations, setting up a pellet plant in Odisha in eastern India and a 4mn mt/yr green steel complex at Ras-Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia.