Equinor and Engie in Low Carbon Hydrogen Pact

Equinor (NYSE: EQNR) and ENGIE have announced a partnership to develop low-carbon hydrogen activities.

The partners will investigate the production and market potential for hydrogen from natural gas where CO₂ will be captured and stored permanently offshore, Equinor noted.

The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to investigate the development of low-carbon hydrogen value chains in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, Equinor revealed, adding that, in the coming months, the companies will start discussions with potential customers to assess the project, as well as with stakeholders and relevant authorities.

Equinor and ENGIE believe that it is essential to develop low-carbon and renewable hydrogen projects at scale in order to make it possible for industrial customers to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions before 2030, according to a statement posted on Equinor’s website.

“Equinor aims to be a leading company in the energy transition,” Grete Tveit, Equinor’s senior vice president for low carbon solutions, said in a company statement.

“We believe that hydrogen and CCS will be vital if we are going to succeed with the transition. Collaboration and partnerships will be absolutely necessary to find the best solutions,” Tveit added.

“Our two companies have complementary areas of expertise that we can utilize to develop low carbon hydrogen initiatives together,” Tveit went on to say.

Edouard Neviaski, the chief executive officer of ENGIE’s business unit global energy management, said, “we are glad to work on this project with Equinor, a long-standing partner for more than 40 years”.

“ENGIE firmly believes that hydrogen will play a key role in the energy transition. ENGIE produces renewable hydrogen and supports the development of the market for low-carbon hydrogen,” he added.

“Both these technologies will be necessary to accelerate the development of a solid infrastructure and the transition to a carbon neutral economy,” Neviaski continued.

In December last year, Equinor joined the NortH2-project, which is described as Europe’s biggest green hydrogen development. The project aims to produce green hydrogen using renewable electricity from offshore wind off the coast of Netherlands of about four gigawatts (GW) by 2030, and more than 10 GW by 2040.

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