FRANKFURT, July 2 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell on
Friday launched Europe's biggest hydrogen electrolysis plant of
10 megawatts (MW) called Refhyne at the Wesseling site of its
Rheinland refinery after two years of construction, expanding
further into alternative energies.
The plant will produce green fuels within a European
Union-funded consortium which is already setting sights on a
facility of 100 MW at the site near Cologne to scale up its
commercial operations.
Hydrogen is considered "green" when it is produced from
renewable power from wind or solar through electrolysis whereas
"grey" hydrogen from fossil fuels is a feedstock in many
standard industry processes today.
Hydrogen has a high energy content by mass, but conversion
losses from electrolysis and high costs involved in readying it
for delivery pose challenges.
Under the EU Green Deal's climate targets, green quality
hydrogen is expected to play a role in energy, but also in
mobility, heat provision, and hard-to-decarbonise industries
such as steel or cement.
Shell also aims to produce sustainable aviation fuel from
renewable electricity and biomass at Wesseling as well as
developing a plant for liquefied renewable natural gas
(bio-LNG).
"Shell wants to become a leading supplier of green hydrogen
for industrial and transport customers in Germany," said Huibert
Vigeveno, Downstream Director at Shell.
The polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyser will use
renewable power to produce up to 1,300 tonnes a year of green
hydrogen, initially to be used to produce fuels with lower
carbon intensity and later to decarbonise other industries.
The plant has cost around 20 million euros ($23.72 million)
of which half came from EU funds.
The consortium is made up of, apart from Shell, the
electrolyser producer ITM Power, research organisation
SINTEF and consultants Sphera and Element Energy.
"With the commissioning of the largest PEM electrolysis
plant in Europe, we are further expanding our leading role in
this field," said North Rhine Westphalia's state premier Armin
Laschet, referring to his region.
The industrial state accounts for 30% of Germany's grey
hydrogen usage.
($1 = 0.8431 euros)
(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by David Evans)
