bp and BASF have signed a license agreement for the use of BASF’s gas treating technology, OASE® white, to capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) generated during H₂ production at bp’s proposed blue H₂ facility in Teesside, H2Teesside. BASF have been supporting H2Teesside since Autumn 2023 and their engineering delivery package is already well advanced.

H2Teesside aims to be one of the UK’s largest blue H₂ production facilities, targeting 1.2 GW of H₂ production by 2030, equating to over 10% of the UK Government’s H₂ target of 10 GW by the same year. Blue H₂ is produced from natural gas, with the CO₂ also generated captured for storage.

BASF’s OASE white, a proven technology in many ammonia, H₂ and carbon monoxide plants across the world, will bring improved energy efficiency to the blue H₂ production process while achieving a CO₂ capture rate of up to 99.99%. The continuous OASE gas treatment process adds an amine-based solvent agent to the gas stream where it absorbs the CO₂. After this, both components (CO₂ and Amine) are separated from the H₂ rich gas stream before being separated once more by fractionation. The CO₂ is then sent for storage and the OASE solvent agent is re-used in the process.

Carbon capture at H2Teesside could capture and send for storage of approximately 2 MMtpy of CO₂ via the bp-led Northern Endurance partnership, the CO₂ transportation and storage company that will deliver the onshore and offshore infrastructure needed to capture carbon from a range of emitters across Teesside and the Humber.

Will Harrison-Cripps, H2Teesside Asset Development Lead at bp said, “This agreement marks another critical milestone for H2Teesside as the project builds momentum and continues to move towards commercial operations, planned for 2028. Along with its sister project HyGreen Teesside, H2Teesside could play a critical role in decarbonizing industry and heavy transport on Teesside, helping to transform the region into a leading H₂ hub and kickstart the UK’s low-carbon H₂ economy.”

Glenn Langguth, Head of Global Commercial Management for BASF’s Gas Treatment business said, “We are proud to work with bp on this important project with the aim of reducing CO₂ emissions. Our OASE white technology is a proven and established solution for this kind of carbon capture technology. Our portfolio of OASE gas treating technologies is characterized by high energy efficiency and is perfectly suited to help our customers achieve their sustainability targets.”