Shell on board with Norwegian blue hydrogen project

A hydrogen division of the Aker Group said July 12 that Shell signed on to develop a hydrogen processing plant in Norway.

Aker Clean Hydrogen and energy transition company CapeOmega signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Norwegian subsidiary of Shell to explore the transformation of an existing facility into a large-scale production facility that can yield so-called blue hydrogen, derived from hydrocarbons with resulting CO₂ captured and stored.

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Already this year, Aker agreed with the Norwegian municipality of Aukra to explore the production of hydrogen, ammonia and other clean-energy products at a gas processing facility there. CapeOmega came on board with an MoU with Aker in June.

Shell, meanwhile, operates a separate gas plant in Aukra, as well as the Ormen Lange gas field off the Norwegian coast. Shell’s gas facility will feed the proposed blue hydrogen facility.

Aker said the facilities at Aukra could be used to lower the carbon intensity of local industries while offering cleaner fuels for the road and maritime transportation sectors. A likely recipient of the CO₂ produced at the plant is the Northern Lights CCS venture, where Shell is partnered with Norway's Equinor and France's TotalEnergies.

Separately, Norwegian company Horisont Energi is developing the Polaris CCS project. In June, the company signed letters of intent with several European companies on commercial storage of CO₂.