Grayce visits energy infrastructure leader, Kellas Midstream

Grayce visits Kellas Midstream, solidifying their partnership and supporting them on their Net Zero journey

Earlier this month, a small group of members from Grayce’s Sustainability Initiative were invited by Kellas Midstream to their Central Area Transmission System (CATS) terminal at Teesside. The Grayce delegation included Doha Hammami – Grayce Energy Client Partner, Georgina Rosser – Senior Project Analyst and Sustainability Lead, Abdi Ismail – Lead Project Analyst and Sustainability Strategic Lead, and Escher Luton – Senior Data Analyst and Sustainability Comms lead. Our Sustainability Team reflect on what they learnt from their visit and how Grayce Analyst, Harry Ford is directly contributing to the UK energy industry’s transition to net zero.

Harry Ford, a Grayce Project Analyst and Graduate Engineer at Kellas was our host and tour guide for the day. Harry presented an insightful slide deck and tour of the plant that gave us a clear understanding of the role Kellas plays in UK energy supply, along with Kellas’ plans on supporting the UK’s transition to cleaner energy.

Meeting Kellas

Kellas operates gas pipelines and infrastructure which transport more than 40% of UK natural gas from offshore production platforms to onshore processing facilities. Here, the natural gas is processed to meet UK specifications, before being sent to the National Grid and then eventually to homes across the UK. Their largest site is at Teesside, which is a vast industrial area.

Like many of the surrounding chemical plants, Kellas’ largest emissions come from burning natural gas to heat processes around the plant which, in turn, releases carbon dioxide (CO₂). To make this process more sustainable, both for themselves and the surrounding industry, Kellas is planning to build a 1GW low carbon blue hydrogen plant called H2NorthEast. This will be developed next to the CATS terminal site. This hydrogen can be used in place of natural gas, and the best thing about it is it releases no CO₂ emissions when burned for heating.

The Future is Blue?

So, how is blue hydrogen made? Blue hydrogen is hydrogen that is created from natural gas. The natural gas undergoes a chemical process which splits it into CO₂ and hydrogen. The CO₂ is captured and can then be buried in deep sea repositories whilst the hydrogen can be utilised for heating and power.

Blue hydrogen is a key resource in the UK’s transition to net zero and it has the potential to directly replace natural gas as a source of heat and power. Eventually, we will be able to move towards green hydrogen. This is hydrogen produced from electrolysis of water, that is splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen with the use of renewable energy. Green hydrogen has the advantage of using no fossil fuels at all, however, the technology is not yet ready for industrial use. Blue hydrogen can therefore be used to bridge the gap, helping the industry significantly reduce their emissions earlier and meet the government’s goal of net zero by 2050.

Blue hydrogen is Kellas’ biggest step towards being more sustainable but it’s not the only thing they’re doing, they’re also implementing lots of small changes. This includes processes such as methane monitoring around the plant to detect if there are leaks of methane, which has a much higher global warming potential than CO₂. Kellas is also aiming to massively reduce their CO₂ emissions, targeting a 25% decrease by 2025 and having already reduced their carbon intensity by 26% in the past 5 years. To do this, they are implementing lots of clever engineering tricks such as heat integration (reusing hot streams within the process to heat streams that need to be heated), flare gas recovery (diverting natural gas that would be flared off to other parts of the plant), replacing compressors, and using exclusively LED lightbulbs to be more energy efficient.

Kellas’ sustainable intentions come directly from their business strategy, which consists of three targets. These include nurturing and sustaining its core business, building new customers and investments, and then lastly, but certainly not least, creating a new business area which contributes to net zero. Kellas has the opportunity to become a market leader in this space, demonstrating they can grow, adapt, and innovate within their sector’s changing environment.

Grayce’s Role

Grayce Project Analyst, Harry Ford works as a Graduate Engineer and has been at Kellas since January 2022. After a successful application, Grayce was able to align Harry with an opportunity at Kellas, highly complementing his career ambitions. In his role, Harry supports the operations management of Kellas’ assets , providing an interface between the onsite teams and Kellas’ leadership team in Aberdeen.

Harry leads the Kellas risk management process which involves working with multiple functions to recognise any risks presented to the business and potential mitigations. To do this, Harry’s work includes attending technical safety workshops such as HAZOP and LOPA. His other responsibilities include project management, maintenance, planning of budgets, and forecasting.

Harry is also actively involved with Kellas’ ESG efforts. Recently, Harry produced the company’s annual ESG report, and supported the subsequent comms and marketing strategy. Harry pinpoints this as his most valuable contribution so far, as he is incredibly passionate about playing a key role in the transition to becoming sustainable, which is the biggest challenge the industry faces.

Here at Grayce, we’re also becoming increasingly active in the sustainability space, but Harry’s seen first-hand the success stories that come with setting ambitious targets and thinking both innovatively and proactively. So, Harry’s advice to Grayce, with the help of the Sustainability Initiative, is to do the same.

Due to Kellas’ size, it’s logistically challenging for them to implement the same graduate support network that Grayce has established. Harry is grateful for Grayce’s ability to provide events such as Sustainability TogetherFest, Lunch and Learns, Golf Days, etc. to feel part of the wider community. For now, Harry looks forward to continuing his placement at Kellas, with the high probability of transferring permanently to his client following the completion of his Development Programme at Grayce.

About Grayce

Grayce is an emerging talent management consultancy. Since 2012, it has worked with businesses to place thousands of skilled graduate professionals with them, as demand for skilled professionals in change, data and tech continues to grow. The consultancy works with businesses to rethink their talent strategy, build long-term skills capabilities and deliver digital transformation and change.

Its Change+, Data+ and Tech+ Development Programmes are designed to equip graduates with the skills they need both now and for the future and to provide businesses with access to the very best, diverse talent for their assignments. For more information visit www.grayce.co.uk/