ExxonMobil awards Technip contract for world’s largest low-carbon hydrogen facility

Image: Reuters.

ExxonMobil has issued French engineering firm Technip Energies a contract award for front-end engineering and design (FEED) for the planned Baytown Refinery hydrogen facility near Houston.

Technip will manage the next stage of front-end engineering and design for the development in Baytown, Tex.

A final decision for Baytown Refinery is expected by 2024 — subject to stakeholder support, regulatory permitting and market conditions.

The facility is projected to produce 1 billion cubic tons of hydrogen per day while capturing an expected 98% of the CO2 caused by production (approximately 7 million metric tons per year) for storage.

By reaching 1 billion cubic tons per day, Baytown Refinery would become the largest low-carbon hydrogen project in the world at planned startup in 2027-28.

Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, said the company is making the project’s carbon-capture and storage network available for use by area CO2 emitters. “This project allows us to offer significant volumes of low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia to third-party customers in support of their decarbonization efforts,” Amman said.

According to ExxonMobil, Baytown Refinery is expected to enable up to a 30% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions to hydrogen from natural gas.