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Essar To Set Up £360-Million Carbon Capture Plant At Stanlow Refinery In U.K.

The company aims to complete the project by 2027.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>(Source: <a href="https://unsplash.com/@mantasos">Tasos Mansour</a>/Unsplash)</p></div>
(Source: Tasos Mansour/Unsplash)

Essar Oil UK Ltd. (Essar) will set up a carbon capture plant at its Stanlow refinery in the U.K. at an investment cost of GBP 360 million (around Rs 3,514 crore) in line with its carbon reduction plans.

The plant will eliminate an estimated 0.81 million tonne of CO2 per year which is equivalent of taking 400,000 cars off the road, eliminating nearly 40% of all Stanlow emissions, Essar said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company aims to complete the project by 2027.

"Essar announces plan to build a GBP 360 million major new carbon capture plant at its Stanlow refinery in line with its ambition to become a leading low carbon refinery by 2030. (Overall) Essar is investing over £1 billion into a range of energy efficiency, fuel-switching, and carbon capture initiatives, designed to decarbonise its production processes significantly by 2030 and put company at the forefront of the U.K.’s shift to low carbon energy," the statement said.

Deepak Maheshwari, CEO of Essar Oil U.K. said, the new carbon capture plant is the single-biggest initiative to decarbonise company's processes and a core element to its ambitious decarbonisation strategy. Essar's ambition is to become a leading low carbon refinery.

"This is a massive undertaking, but it is a journey we are fully committed to. Not only is it the right environmental thing to do, it will future proof the critical Stanlow refinery for the long term, protecting jobs and industry, while also placing Stanlow at the very centre of the U.K.'s energy transition," he said.

Essar is already making rapid progress against its broader decarbonisation targets.

In September, the company announced it had signed an offtake agreement with Vertex, a joint venture with progressive energy, for the supply of over 280 MW of hydrogen. The hydrogen will be used to help decarbonise Essar’s existing production facilities including the new hydrogen powered furnace 1 which was delivered in August this year.

Essar is a leading downstream energy company whose Stanlow manufacturing complex is one of the most advanced refineries in Europe situated close to the major cities of Liverpool and Manchester.