Communicator

The newly opened ten-MW plant (dark grey containers) in Schwechat produces between five and ten percent of the hydrogen required annually by the OMV Schwechat refinery for its operations.

OMV has successfully started up its landmark 10 megawatt (MW) polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer at the Schwechat refinery near Vienna, marking the largest operational green hydrogen production facility in Austria and a significant step forward in the country’s energy transition. The project, known as UpHy II, is the result of years of collaboration, planning, and investment, and stands as a blueprint for industrial-scale green hydrogen integration in refining.

Project Location and Startup

The electrolyzer is located within OMV’s Schwechat refinery, Austria’s largest petroleum processing facility, strategically positioned to directly supply hydrogen to existing refinery operations. The plant began commercial operation in late 2024, with official announcements and public showcases taking place in spring 2025. Its startup represents not only a technical milestone but also a pioneering achievement in regulatory compliance, as it is among the first green hydrogen projects in Europe to achieve certification under the EU’s Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO) standards.

Capacity and Production

With a total capacity of 10 MW, the electrolyzer can produce up to 1,500 metric tons of green hydrogen annually—equivalent to about 2,000 Nm³ of hydrogen per hour. This output is sufficient to supply 5–10% of the both the Schwechat refinery’s total hydrogen needs (estimated at 15,000–30,000 tons/year), displacing fossil-based hydrogen in refining processes such as hydrodesulfurization. The remaining hydrogen is channeled into mobility applications, such as fueling hydrogen buses and trucks. The hydrogen produced is of high purity (≥99.999%), meeting the strict requirements for both refinery use and mobility (ISO 14687-2 and EN 17124).



Feb 16, 2022 -- UpHy I + II – Upscaling of green hydrogen for mobility and industry, WIVA P&G, Youtube.

Technology and Selectivity

The electrolyzer uses state-of-the-art PEM technology, chosen for its efficiency, flexibility, and ability to respond quickly to fluctuations in renewable power supply. The system consists of four 2.5 MW PEM electrolyzer containers, each capable of producing 500 Nm³/h of hydrogen. Operating at temperatures between 50 and 80°C, the system achieves high system efficiency, ranging from 75% (start of run) to 68% (end of run) at full load. The hydrogen is delivered at 30 bar, reducing the need for additional compression before use in the refinery.

The selectivity of the PEM process ensures that only hydrogen and oxygen are produced, with minimal impurities, making the output suitable for both chemical processes and mobility applications. The facility also includes advanced purification and measurement technologies developed in partnership with HyCentA Research GmbH and V&F Analyse- und Messtechnik GmbH, ensuring compliance with stringent quality standards.



UpHy I + II - Upscaling of green hydrogen for mobility and industry.

Integration in Refining and Mobility

The green hydrogen produced at Schwechat is used to replace fossil-based (“grey”) hydrogen in the Schwechat refinery’s hydroprocessing units, which are essential for producing cleaner fuels and chemicals. This substitution reduces the refinery’s annual CO₂ emissions by up to 15,000 metric tons, equivalent to the carbon footprint of 2,000 people. Additionally, part of the hydrogen is made available for mobility, supporting the operation of hydrogen-powered buses and trucks, with dedicated logistics and filling infrastructure developed as part of the UpHy project.

Future Prospects

The successful operation of the 10 MW electrolyzer serves as a foundation for OMV’s ambitious plans to scale up green hydrogen production. The company has already announced a much larger project: a 140 MW electrolyzer to be built southeast of Vienna, with a target production capacity of 23,000 tons of green hydrogen per year—one of the largest such facilities planned in Europe. These projects are part of OMV’s broader strategy to become a leader in sustainable fuels, chemicals, and materials, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

#omv  #schwechat  #refinery  #hydrogen  #greenhydrogen  #sustainability  #electrolyzer  #greyhydrogen  #hydroprocessing  #austria  #pemelectrolyzer 

HyCentA (Hydrogen Research Center Austria) has been added.


#hydrogen  #greenhydrogen  #electrolysis  #electrolyzer  #sustainability 

Hydraeon alkaline water electrolyser for green hydrogen production has been added.

 

#ineos #membraneelectrolyser  #hydraeonelectrolyser  #greenhydrogen  #emethanol  #alkalinewater  #electrolysis  #hydrogenproduction  #renewableenergy 

Técnicas Reunidas / March 10, 2025 -- In a significant step toward Europe's energy transition goals, Técnicas Reunidas and Siemens Energy have been selected to carry out the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the La Robla Green project, set to become one of Europe's largest renewable methanol production facilities. The ambitious initiative is located in La Robla, a municipality in the province of León, Spain.

The project is spearheaded by Spanish company Reolum, which specializes in innovative energy transition solutions. The planned facility will produce 140,000 tons per year of green methanol (e-methanol) by combining renewable hydrogen with biogenic carbon captured from a biomass cogeneration plant. This approach ensures a sustainable production process with significantly reduced carbon emissions compared to conventional methanol production methods.

Green methanol is gaining prominence as a key alternative fuel for decarbonizing sectors with traditionally high emissions, such as maritime transport and aviation. It can be used directly as fuel or serve as feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), providing a crucial pathway toward achieving Europe's climate neutrality targets.

The La Robla Green project brings together the expertise of several global leaders in decarbonization technologies. Siemens Energy will lead the development of the renewable hydrogen unit, while Técnicas Reunidas will oversee biogenic carbon capture and e-methanol production units. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will provide advanced CO₂ capture technology, and Johnson Matthey will supply its proprietary eMERALD™ technology, enabling direct hydrogenation of captured CO₂ into methanol.

This collaborative effort aligns with Técnicas Reunidas' broader decarbonization strategy known as TRACK, aimed at accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. The project recently received substantial financial backing from the Spanish government: €180 million from NextGenerationEU funds allocated by the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge. This funding supports Spain's H2 Valles Program initiative to establish major renewable hydrogen clusters across various regions including Aragon, Andalusia, Castile and León, Catalonia, and Galicia.

With this investment and collaboration among industry leaders, La Robla Green positions itself as a landmark project in Europe's renewable energy landscape. It is expected to significantly contribute to regional economic growth while advancing Spain's leadership in green technologies and sustainable fuels.

#greenhydrogen  #emethanol  #sustainablefuels  #sustainableaviationfuel  #saf  #carboncapture  #co2capture  #sustainability 

LA ROBLA GREEN project site that will include a carbon-negative green biomass energy generation plant and an e-methanol plant produced by combining CO₂ extracted from the Roblum biomass power plant with green hydrogen.


#spain  #larobla  #reolum  #greenhydrogen  #emethanol  #biomassenergy  #co2extraction  #sustainability 

e-Methanol has been added.


#waterelectrolysis  #greenhydrogen  #sustainableco2  #carboncapture  #biogenicco2  #fuelcell  #hydrogen #sustainability 

REOLUM has been added.

 

#renewableenergy #emethanol  #greenhydrogen  #co2capture  #electricalcogeneration  #biomass 

The description of the Raffinerie Heide's Hemmingstedt refinery has been updated.


#sustainability  #greenhydrogen  #hydrogenstorage  #emethanol  #cleanfuels  #electrolysis  #westkuste100  #emissions  #co2emissions 

Troll C

Date: February 9, 2025

Norwegian energy giant Equinor has announced a significant shift in its energy strategy, halving its planned investments in renewable energy over the next two years while ramping up oil and gas production.

The company will reduce its renewable energy spending to $5 billion, down from the $10 billion it previously committed, citing rising costs and slower-than-expected progress in low-carbon projects.

Equinor has also revised its 2030 renewable capacity target to 10-12 GW, a reduction from the earlier goal of 12-16 GW. This adjustment comes as the company focuses on "value creation" and shareholder returns.

CEO Anders Opedal emphasized that the decision aligns with market realities, noting that profitability in renewables has not met expectations. Despite these changes, Equinor maintains its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

It plans to continue investing in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen technologies while reducing emissions from its oil and gas operations. However, the company will now prioritize increasing oil and gas output by 10% through 2027, leveraging its assets on the Norwegian continental shelf and other key projects like the Johan Sverdrup oil field to produce 2.2mn barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030.

This strategic pivot reflects broader industry trends as major energy companies, including BP and Shell, scale back renewable ambitions amid economic pressures and geopolitical uncertainties.

While Equinor's move is expected to bolster cash flow and shareholder value, it raises questions about the pace of the global energy transition and the challenges of balancing profitability with sustainability goals.

#energytransition  #renewableenergy  #oilandgas  #equinor  #hydrogen #carbonecapture  #ccs  #greenhydrogen #Sustainability 

Electricity [TWh/yr] required globally to provide green fuels for all shipping segments where actual data uncertainties are included.

A newly published academic article addresses the availability of green alternative fuels for marine shipping (and aviation). The article makes a compelling case for nuclear propulsion or otherwise see freight will stay fossil in the foreseeable future.

The paper presents some basic realities of replacing fossil fuels in shipping with green alternative fuels for the same amount of work being performed. The required amount of electric power for producing these green alternative fuels is subsequently calculated. Compared on a scale equal to major industrial entities globally, it is proven beyond any doubt that there is basically not enough electricity in the world to make a relevant amount of green alternative fuels for shipping.

Basically, the gravimetric energy densities are orders of magnitude too low, or the thermodynamical losses are too high, for electricity to replace fossil fuel in this particular application. This finding also questions the conventional wisdom of the merit of an all-encompassing electrification of society. There are, however, niches where a relevant supply of green alternative fuels is possible to secure, albeit difficult.

Therefore, much of today’s research on green alternative fuels rests on a hidden assumption—that there will be available fuels. However, green alternative fuels will not be available in relevant quantities unless the research is well contextualized for small ships on short, domestic distances. The fuel availability is, therefore, a key constraint to incorporate in future work on green alternative fuels for shipping.

Furthermore, it seems prudent to open up a wider search for solutions, including nuclear propulsion, based on the fact that the gravimetric energy densities are physical realities that we must respect.

Source: Emblemsvåg, J. A Study on the Limitations of Green Alternative Fuels in Global Shipping in the Foreseeable Future. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2025, 13, 79.

#marinefuel  #bunkerfuel  #fueloil  #marinediesel  #aviationfuel  #greenhydrogen  #greenammonia  #greenmethanol  #nuclearenergy 

Francesco Sassi, 21 Oct 2024, eklipX Research

Spanish energy giant Repsol is freezing the development of all major hydrogen assets in the country, says the company.
After international companies cancelled their plans to export hydrogen from Norway to Germany, this is another alarming sign for the industry in the E.U.
According to Repsol, the world-renowned Oil & Gas Spanish giant, has halted all developments of green hydrogen projects in Spain with a large electrolysis capacity, namely over 350 MW. The company says that the existing regulations in Spain are at the root of this decision.
From Repsol's perspective, the current political discussion about possible windfall taxes on energy companies and banks to be confirmed in the long term makes these investments simply too risky.  Spain is one of the few E.U. countries to still apply a windfall profit tax to fund relief measures for consumers. In 2023, the levy granted Madrid additional €2.9 billion going into the State's coffers.
At the end of 2023, the same government extended the measure for 12 months, allowing companies to partially offset the levy on renewable energy projects. Now, the tensions between the State & Market stakeholders are rising due to the proposal of extending the windfall tax in the future.
Thus, we should understand Repsol's decision in the contexts of growing, domestic political frictions, and the instability of the hydrogen market in the E.U.

#oilandgas  #crudeoil  #naturalgas  #hydrogen  #greenhydrogen  #electrolysis  #repsol  #spain  #eu  #pipeline 

A completed LNG heat exchanger manufactured at Air Products' Port Manatee facility is being loaded on a carrier at the Port of Manatee for shipment to the customer.

On 10 July 2024, Honeywell and Air Products jointly announced today that Honeywell has agreed to acquire Air Products’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) process technology and equipment business for $1.81 billion in an all-cash transaction. This represents approximately 13x estimated 2024 EBITDA.

Air Products’ LNG Business has approximately 475 employees with headquarters in Allentown, Pennsylvania and a 390,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Port Manatee, Florida, where all sizes of CWHEs are made.

Currently, Honeywell provides a pre-treatment solution serving LNG customers globally. Air Products’ complementary LNG process technology and equipment business consists of a comprehensive portfolio, including in-house design and manufacturing of coil-wound heat exchangers (CWHE) and related equipment. CWHEs provide the highest throughput of natural gas in a single exchanger with a small footprint and robust, reliable and safe operations both onshore and offshore.

Air Products continues to focus on its two-pillar strategy to grow and invest in its industrial gas business and drive the energy transition through clean hydrogen at scale.

#lng  #hydrogen  #greenhydrogen  #bluehydrogen  #liquifaction  #naturalgas  #airproducts  #honeywell 

After halting work on biofuel plant in Rotterdam, 🇳🇱 The Netherlands, and booking a $1bn write down, Shell has also pulled out of e-SAF project planned with state-owned 🇸🇪 Swedish power utility company Vattenfall.

“Vattenfall and Shell have decided to pause their collaboration in the HySkies electrofuel project while Vattenfall continues the search for new partners,” said Vattenfall in a statement.

The joint project, with the planned capex of €780m ($845m), was launched in 2021 with initial plans to produce 82,000 tonnes of e-SAF and 9,000 tonnes of renewable diesel per annum. The project envisaged the use of hydrogen from 200MW electrolysis plant, biogenic CO2 captured from a waste-to-energy plant and sustainable ethanol as feedstocks at the site.

It was due to begin operations in March of 2027.

On the other hand, the company said that it will also not avail financial support via the EU Innovation Fund, considering it is infeasible for the project to succeed within the framework of that agreement and aiming to free up funds for others to use in their ambitions to decarbonise.

Vattenfall-Shell e-SAF project was awarded €80.2mn ($87mn) grant in January 2023.

#saf  #hefa  #hefa -spk #aviationfuel  #renewablediesel  #sustainableaviationfuel  #shell  #vattenfall  #electrolysis  #hydrogen  #greenhydrogen  #carboncapture  #ccu  #ethanol  #bioethanol 

Source: Fayaz Hussain, 8^th July 2024, SAF Investor

An aerial view of the Port of Sines. Photo: Port of Sines

H2Sines.Rdam, a proposed 400MW green hydrogen project in Portugal, aiming at shipping liquid hydrogen from Portugal to the Netherlands, has been cancelled despite being in line for a multi-million-euro grant from the E.U. Innovation Fund.

The cancellation is justified by a lack of market and clear regulations for the project. An assessment by Shell concluded that the project was no economically viable. One main deterrent is the lack of ships with sufficient liquid hydrogen carrying capacity.  

The project partners Engie, Shell, storage tank company Vopak and shipping firm Anthony Veder decided to terminate the project in October 2023.

Source: Hydrogeninsights, 5^th Apr 2024

#shell #hydrogen  #liquidhydrogen  #greenhydrogen 

Total financing consists of $5.85bn of senior debt and $475m of mezzanine debt facilities. Both are arranged on a non-recourse project finance basis, as follows: > $1.5bn from the National Development Fund on behalf of the National Infrastructure Fund > $1.25bn in the form of SR-denominated financing from the Saudi Industrial Development Fund > The balance is from a consortium of financiers, structured as a combination of long-term uncovered tranches and an Euler Hermes covered tranche, comprising: >> First Abu Dhabi Bank >> HSBC >> Standard Chartered Bank >> Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group >> BNP Paribas >> Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank >> Natixis >> Saudi British Bank >> Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation >> Saudi National Bank >> KFW >> Riyad Bank >> Norinchukin Bank >> Mizuho Bank >> Banque Saudi Fransi >> Alinma Bank >> Apicorp >> JP Morgan >> DZ Bank >> Korea Development Bank >> Credit Agricole #greenhydrogen  #greenammonia 

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Generic #greenammonia  Process has been created. #hydrogen  #greenhydrogen  #haberbosch  #electrolysis  #airseparationunit  #asu