EET Fuels, the owner and operator of the Stanlow oil refinery in the UK, has appointed Toyo Engineering India Pvt Ltd (Toyo-India) to undertake the front-end engineering design (FEED) for its industrial carbon capture project. This move is part of EET Fuels’ $1.2 billion investment over the next five years to decarbonize the Stanlow refinery.
The project aims to reduce emissions by 95% by 2030 through improvements in energy efficiency, carbon capture, and fuel switching. Toyo-India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyo Engineering Corporation, Japan, will handle the design completion, project de-risking, and detailed cost analysis essential for the FEED phase.
Completion of the FEED study will pave the way for EET Fuels to make a final investment decision (FID) on the carbon capture project. Expected to be completed by 2028, the project will capture carbon dioxide from Stanlow’s full-residue fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit, one of the largest in Europe.
The captured CO2 will be transported via a repurposed gas transportation network and permanently sequestered in depleted gas fields in Liverpool Bay as part of the HyNet industrial decarbonization cluster in North West England. The ICC project is projected to capture around 1 million tonnes of CO2 annually, reducing Stanlow’s total emissions by approximately 45%.
EET Fuels has also applied for a revenue support mechanism from the UK Government under the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s Track One expansion programme for carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS). The timing for the final investment decision will be confirmed as part of this process.
This announcement follows the recent appointment of Wood for the FEED of EET Fuels’ hydrogen fuel switching project. These developments underscore EET Fuels’ commitment to achieving a 95% reduction in CO2 emissions at Stanlow by 2030 and establishing the UK’s leading energy transition hub.
Deepak Maheshwari, CEO of EET Fuels, stated, “Our ambitious carbon capture and storage plans are critical for the future of the Stanlow refinery and for significantly reducing industrial carbon emissions in North West England. Partnering with Toyo-India marks a major milestone in our journey towards becoming the world’s first low-carbon process refinery, and we look forward to advancing towards FID.”
The Stanlow Refinery is one of the UK’s largest and most complex refineries, processing around 10 million tonnes of crude oil annually and supplying a substantial portion of the country’s road transport fuels, including petrol, diesel, and jet fuel. It also plays a key role in Britain’s petrochemical industry by providing essential feedstocks.
In 2022, EET Fuels announced plans to build a £360 million carbon capture plant at Stanlow. The facility will capture CO2 from one of Europe’s largest full-residue fluidized catalytic cracking units, with the captured CO2 being sequestered in Liverpool Bay as part of the HyNet cluster infrastructure.
