As bp Expands its Hydrogen Pipeline, It Now Focuses on Blue Hydrogen Projects

In bp’s 2023 fourth quarter and full-year results presentation, the company announced that it had increased its hydrogen pipeline from 1.8 million tons per annum (MTPA) to 2.9 MTPA over the course of last year. In addition to expanding the hydrogen portfolio, bp intends to focus on a series of blue hydrogen projects in 2024, specifically the decarbonization of the company’s refineries.

“We grew our hydrogen pipeline to 2.9 MTPA. Our focus this decade is on blue hydrogen and decarbonization of our refineries while laying the foundation for green hydrogen production toward the end of the decade,” said Murray Auchinloss, CEO, bp. “But we have lots of hydrogen opportunities inside Europe, lots of opportunities inside Australia. So we can always pivot to what the best returns are inside the portfolio.”

Murray Auchinloss, CEO, bp. Image credit: BP

Among the various hydrogen projects bp is currently working on, the 105 MW H2Kwinana green hydrogen project in Western Australia is scheduled to receive $1.35 billion of federal government subsidies. The United States’ Midwest Hydrogen Hub was also selected for a $1 billion grant from the Biden Administration in accordance with the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

bp’s hydrogen efforts extend to a land lease for a green hydrogen project in Oman and the H2Teesside blue hydrogen project in northeast England. The H2Teesside project was shortlisted for funding from a collective federal pot of $1.26 billion. bp is also a major shareholder in a partnership planning the Australia Renewable Energy Hub project in Western Australia, which will be powered by 26 GW of wind and solar to produce approximately 1.6 MTPA of green hydrogen.

According to the yearly report, bp is establishing a number of green and blue hydrogen projects on a global scale to lay a foundation for hydrogen production over the next 10 years. Despite experiencing significant growth in the green hydrogen market, bp only made $13.8 billion in profit, down from $27.7 billion in 2022.