Equinor Awards Jacobs Feasibility Study for Conversion of Natural Gas to Hydrogen in Power Production

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. was awarded a feasibility study contract from Equinor Energy AS to evaluate the possibilities for building a hydrogen production plant, including CO2 capture and export facilities, in Eemshaven, the Netherlands. The hydrogen will be supplied as fuel to an existing natural gas-fired power plant that will be converted into a hydrogen-fueled power plant designed to lower the plant's carbon emissions at a large scale.

The award of the feasibility study follows the Memorandum of Understanding of Equinor, with its partners Vattenfall and Gasunie, to evaluate the possibilities of converting Vattenfall's gas power plant Magnum in Eemshaven into a hydrogen-powered plant.

"Getting the opportunity to work with Equinor to study the possibilities of gas-to-hydrogen conversion and contribute to a significant CO2 reduction is meaningful to Jacobs in many ways," says Jacobs Senior Vice President and General Manager Energy and Chemicals EMEA David Zelinski. "The award enables us to leverage our expertise in gas processing and aligns perfectly with our vision to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to our clients."

Building on Jacobs' expertise in hydrogen, reformer technology and CO2 capture, the study performed by Jacobs will focus on the objective of selecting the most effective reformer technology for hydrogen production together with a suitable CO2 capture technology. Jacobs will also deliver the conceptual design of the plant as a basis for economic evaluation and further project definition.

In order to avoid CO2 emissions from the hydrogen production process, up to three million tons per year of CO2 will be captured and then liquefied for ease of transportation to Norway, where it will be injected and stored in an off-shore reservoir. The first of three Magnum plant units should be converted to run on natural gas by early 2024.