Finland-headed oil refiner and renewable product major Neste Oyj has announced that it has decided to withdraw from investing in a 120 MW electrolyzer project to produce renewable hydrogen at its Porvoo refinery in Finland.
According to a statement, the decision follows the completion of the basic engineering phase, which commenced in May 2023.
The reasons behind the withdrawal from the electrolyzer investment are the company’s challenging market conditions and financial performance, requiring critical assessment of any new investments.
The evaluation of this project has been impacted by the tight limitations on the use of renewable hydrogen in the refinery’s processes in fulfilling the Finnish national distribution obligation.
These limitations prevent the full economic utilization of electrolyzers of this size.
While we are discontinuing the initial renewable hydrogen project, we are actively evaluating alternative pathways for securing renewable hydrogen in Porvoo. Our ambition remains to utilize renewable hydrogen at the Porvoo refinery, contributing also to the fulfillment of the Finnish renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) distribution obligation. Together with our partners, we continue the work to develop hydrogen ecosystems connected to our Porvoo refinery, commented Markku Korvenranta, EVP for the Oil Products business unit at Neste.
