Global oil, gas, and energy major Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell) has announced that Europe’s largest polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen electrolyzer, has begun operations at Shell’s Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland, in producing green hydrogen. As part of the Refhyne European consortium and with European Commission funding through the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), the fully operational plant is the first to use this technology at such a large scale in a refinery.
An error occurred
On your profile you can see what subscriptions you have access to and more information.
Is some of the information wrong – please contact our customer service.
Please reload the page
Do you want to read the whole article?
- Six editions per year
- Full access to all digital content
- The E-magazine Bioenergy international
- And more ...
In order to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, we need to fundamentally reshape our energy system. Clean hydrogen will play a key role in e-mobility and in industry, as it has great potential for decarbonizing sectors where direct use of renewable energy is not possible. Accordingly, we want to accelerate the market launch of fuel cells and hydrogen technology and tap into their advantages in Europe, said Bart Biebuyck, Executive Director of FCH JU.
According to Shell, plans are underway to expand the capacity of the electrolyzer from 10 MW to 100 MW at the Rheinland site, near Cologne, where Shell also intends to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using renewable power and biomass in the future.
A plant for bioLNG (liquefied biomethane or renewable natural gas – RNG) is also in development.
This project demonstrates a new kind of energy future and a model of lower-carbon energy production that can be replicated worldwide. Shell wants to become a leading supplier of green hydrogen for industrial and transport customers in Germany. We will be involved in the whole process — from power generation, using offshore wind, to hydrogen production and distribution across sectors. We want to be the partner of choice for our customers as we help them decarbonize, said Shell’s Downstream Director, Huibert Vigeveno, at the official opening ceremony.
Refinery transition
Shell has a target to become a net-zero-emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society. As part of its Powering Progress strategy, Shell plans to transform its refinery footprint to five core energy and chemicals parks. This means Shell will reduce the production of traditional fuels by 55 percent by 2030.
Shell’s energy and chemicals parks will be highly integrated with chemicals sites to make them even more efficient in producing low-carbon and synthetic fuels, as well as high-value products such as bitumen, lubricants, and chemicals.
The Rheinland electrolyzer will use renewable electricity to produce up to 1 300 tonnes of green hydrogen annually. This will initially be used to produce fuels with lower carbon intensity. The green hydrogen will also be used to help decarbonize other industries.
We are a hydrogen region. With the commissioning of the largest PEM electrolysis plant in Europe, we are further expanding our leading role in this field. We are therefore laying the foundation for modern and green industry, with highly skilled jobs. Today, 30 percent of German demand for hydrogen already comes from North Rhine-Westphalia’s industry. Estimates predict that demand will double by 2030. This is why we need innovative solutions that will meet the demand for CO2-neutral hydrogen. Projects such as Refhyne demonstrate how innovation can benefit both the environment and the economy, said Armin Laschet, Minister-President, North Rhine-Westphalia.
The European consortium backing the project consists of Shell, ITM Power, research organization SINTEF, consultants Sphera and Element Energy. The electrolyzer was manufactured by ITM power in Sheffield, UK, and includes parts made in Italy, Sweden, Spain, and Germany.
This is a big step towards a carbon-free future. SINTEF has been heavily involved in European electrolysis research for more than a decade, from the fundamental development of materials and components to pilot projects. We are happy to see a large-scale implementation here in Refhyne. The green transition was something we talked about, now it is what we do. The transformation to the low-emission society is happening now and it is scaling up, said Alexandra Bech Gjørv, President and CEO of SINTEF.
The 100 MW electrolyzer (Refhyne II) and SAF projects are at an advanced planning stage, with final investment decisions still pending. The consortium for Refhyne II has been invited to prepare the associated grant agreement with CINEA for financial support consideration.
We’d like to congratulate our partners on the successful start-up of Europe’s largest green hydrogen production plant. We all recognize that this is just the beginning of the journey to net-zero. The next step, Refhyne II, is even bigger and would take us into the hundreds of megawatts for the first time, on our way to gigawatts deployments. The vision and commitment of Shell, North Rhine-Westphalia, and the FCH JU show what can be achieved to deliver the world’s commitments on climate change, said Dr Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power.
