BP is doubling down on hydrogen
as if you are the future as the
world moves away from fossil
fuels, and the applications for
Indiana are significant.
BP has been planning major
Hydrogen Hub earned its massive
refinery in writing.
With details on what that could
mean for Northwest Indiana in
the state, I'm pleased to be
joined by BP Vice President of
the US business department and
integration, Damian Bilbao.
Certainly a lot of folks in
Indiana know about this piece,
it is such a key piece of
infrastructure. It has been
updated but it is kind of an
old line refinery with big
plans to update it for hydrogen
use. Tell me about the
significant plans you have for
Northwest Indiana.
>> Sure, we have been a part of
the Northwest Indiana media
with refinery for over 150
years. We are developing plans
to make sure that this is for
decades to come.
Refineries, or finding around
the world will become central
to these new energy sources for
years to come and hydrogen is
just one example of a feature.
>> Damien as you look at plans,
I'm sure there's more to be
unveiled or released about this
later, but can you give us an
idea of how significant your
planes are there in Whiting?
--
plans for some
>> Let's use an example.
It could be familiar with those
in Northwest Indiana, project
in England is hiring thousands
of people for jobs, close to
10,000 in fact.
Billions of dollars of
investment, that is pretty
significant investment in a
community. And that is an
analogue to what we do in
Northwest Indiana.
>> Welcome a very significant
indeed!
Funny perspective if you were
Damien on hydrogen as a fuel --
put a perspective if you would,
Damien, and hydrogen as a fuel.
The location seem to be ideal
or very attractive for that
sector.
>> Yes absolutely.
What makes it particularly
interesting is that you have a
debt concentration of
manufacturing. Not just our
refining, but as you know, in
Indiana, the sole manufacturer
of steel in the US, there is a
strong push to decarbonise
their as well.
But mostly you have a
neighbouring community that
will benefit from the
decarbonisation of that region.
To put it into context, the
total emissions in Northwest
Indiana are four times the city
of Indianapolis.
And we believe by bringing this
Hydrogen Hub so they could
reduce this by up to half.
>> Well, what do you think of
our timeline when you look at a
project like this?
>> Well that was looked at last
year by the General Assembly.
Putting in place strong
legislation and leadership
putting this in place, that
really started the clock for
Indiana where many other states
have not even taken that first
step. We are already in action
on the ground to learn more
about the potential, so those
projects are moving forward.
We expect to make an invested
decision on these projects for
the next two 2-3 years.
You can imagine that something
of this scale has a big
pricetag and you need to get
all of your debts in the rubble
for you to make a decision.
The goal is to start to make
hydrogen by the end of the
decade.
>> There has been a lot of talk
of maybe a Midwest Hydrogen Hub,
and Northwest Indiana and
Indianapolis going together in
this consortium, this would
just add onto the potential for
Northwest Indiana I assume?
>> Yes it does.
Those states coming together,
and I have to recognise the
leadership the state of Indiana
has had in doing just that to
ensure that not only Indiana is
represented but that Indiana
gets its fair share of any
federal funding that is
captured. The goal of this is
not just to produce hydrogen
and using or industrial
purposes, but to also make sure
we decarbonise mobility as well.
Indiana can be an important
part of whether it is on the
road, trucks, railroads, all
can benefit from the
decarbonisation.
>> Indeed this is very
interesting and it could have