Since announcing their Industrial Carbon Capture (ICC) project at Stanlow in 2022, along with their second project which runs along similar lines, Essar has made their decarbonisation plans and intentions clear.

Essar’s overall goal is to decarbonise their refinery and become the world's first low carbon refinery and producer of low carbon fuels. Now that they have two projects underway and are making progress towards completing this goal, the company has taken a large step forward and has chosen Topsoe as a second technology provider for the planned EET ICC project, taking place at Stanlow, UK.

So far, Essar has invested $1.2 billion into decarbonising the refinery, which has enabled them to reduce an estimated 2 million tonnes of Co2 (95%) emissions. Simultaneously, Essar has created two separate projects to help them achieve their goal, with the first one being their ICC project and the second being their plan to switch their fuel source from natural gas to hydrogen. This first project was announced on the 22nd of November of 2023 and is planned to be operational by 2028, it will have an emission reduction rate of around 1 million tons of Co2. The second project will have a similar Co2 reduction rate and it is through these decarbonisation projects that Essar was able to make the decision to choose Topsoe as a second technology provider.

Topsoe is a leading global provider of technology and solutions, which are designed for use within the energy transition. The company’s main aim is to help their partners, which now includes Essar, to achieve their reduction goals.

Now that Essar has two projects working effectively towards their goal, plus their partnerships with Topsoe and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and other technology partners, Essar Oil UK has stated that they are ready to move into the front-end engineering design (FEED) stage of the project. This part of the project is now already underway as the basic engineering design packages (BEDP) for the licensed technologies has begun.

CEO of Essar Oil UK, Deepak Maheshwari, commented, “We are ready to move into the next phase of Essar Oil UK’s decarbonisation strategy. With an investment of $1.2 billion, Essar Oil UK is positioned to be the world’s first low carbon refinery. The industrial carbon capture facility, combined with our upcoming hydrogen fuel switching project, will reduce the refinery’s CO2 emissions by 95%. Topsoe is a valuable partner in this endeavour. With Topsoe SNOX™ technology we are getting a well proven and highly sustainable flue-gas treatment.”

CCO at Topsoe, Elena Scaltritti, added, “We are thrilled to have been chosen as technology licensor for Essar Oil UK and support them in meeting their decarbonization targets. The agreement represents a landmark step for Topsoe’s development in the United Kingdom, and we look forward to working with Essar on this important project, which is a great example of how the fossil industry can decarbonize itself.”