Vertex Hydrogen — a joint venture between Essar and the UK's Progressive Energy — is a leader in the energy transition, developing the UK’s first large-scale, low-carbon hydrogen production hub at Essar’s site in Ellesmere Port — the heart of the HyNet North West cluster.

Vertex has now signed agreements to supply over 1,000MW of low-carbon hydrogen to leading industrial names in the region — this is similar to the amount of energy required to power a city like Liverpool. The entire initial hydrogen production capacity of Vertex is now secured as a result and will unlock vital hydrogen infrastructure investments in the region. This milestone reflects Vertex’s status as the largest and most advanced low-carbon hydrogen hub in the UK.

The project will capture some 1.8 million tonnes of CO₂ per annum to be stored by the HyNet project and will reduce the region’s industrial emissions by 10% — the equivalent to taking 750,000 cars off the road. It will also see over £2 billion of direct investments in the hydrogen plant and associated regional hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure — securing and growing vital jobs in the region.

The hydrogen demand comes from global businesses operating in the region, that are looking to become the first low-carbon operations in a number of key sectors by switching their current high-carbon fuels to low-carbon hydrogen. These consumers are substantial direct and indirect contributors to the 340,000 people employed in manufacturing in the North West. It also includes innovators in the sustainable aviation fuels, glass and cement industries.

Adrian Curry, managing director of Encirc, said: “This partnership with Vertex will help us to change the face of glass as we aim to produce ‘net zero’ bottles by 2030. Glass is an incredible material and sustainable in so many ways. It has been around since 3,500 BC, and by using hydrogen to decarbonise it, we believe it will be the packaging choice for centuries to come.”

Deepak Maheshwari, CEO of Essar Oil UK, added: “This offtake agreement, and our other initiatives, are continuing examples of us taking clear actions to deliver our strategic goals. We are proud to be a leader in the region and the UK more broadly in industrial decarbonisation.”

Vertex Hydrogen CEO Joe Seifert said: “We have always said that Vertex is demand-led from leading industrial companies and we have now signed agreements for over 1,000MW of hydrogen — our entire expected production capacity from the initial phases of our project. This milestone gives us huge confidence in the economics of the project and the long-term demand for low-carbon hydrogen in the coming decades.”