Shell and Linde Power Clean Hydrogen Plant Development
Shell is building a 100-megawatt renewable hydrogen electrolyser in Germany to help reduce its emissions.
The plant, called REFHYNE II, is expected to produce up to 44,000kg per day of renewable hydrogen.
Linde Engineering has agreed to build the facility which will begin operations in 2027.
Huibert Vigeveno, Downstream, Renewables and Energy Solutions Director at Shell, says the announcement “marks an important milestone in delivering our strategy of more value with less emissions.
“Investing in REFHYNE II is a visible demonstration of our commitment to the hydrogen economy, which will play an important role in helping to decarbonise Shell’s operations and customer products.
“Our decision to invest illustrates what can be achieved with the right enabling conditions to deliver competitive projects.”
Why is clean hydrogen important?
When used as a fuel, hydrogen’s only byproduct is water. It has the potential to power everything from heavy-duty trucks to electricity generation whilst eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.
The most common type of hydrogen produced is known as grey hydrogen, created from natural gas through a process called steam methane reforming (SMR).
This process breaks down methane to produce hydrogen, but releases CO2.
Hydrogen produced through electrolysis, typically known as green hydrogen, splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity.
The REFHYNE II plant will use this process to produce clean, green hydrogen.
“Hydrogen will play a key role in decarbonising energy-intensive industrial sectors, and Linde is at the forefront of developing the technology needed to achieve this,” says John van der Velden, Senior Vice President Global Sales & Technology at Linde Engineering.
“This project draws on our decades of experience in developing hydrogen projects at scale worldwide and we are proud to have been selected by Shell to help deliver its vision for REFHYNE II.
“This project also demonstrates how strong political commitment and supportive incentives can help progress the development of the hydrogen economy.”
Andrew Beard, Vice President for Hydrogen at Shell, says: “With the 100 MW electrolysis REFHYNE II, we are further advancing Shell’s goal of being a net zero emissions company by 2050.
“For Shell Energy & Chemicals Park Rheinland, REFHYNE II is a great investment and a milestone in its transition.
“The project will benefit from the experience that Shell and its partners Linde and ITM have in the development, construction and operation of other renewable hydrogen projects in Europe.”
The REFHYNE Project
The REFHYNE Project is funded by the European Commission’s Clean Hydrogen Partnership as part of the effort to supply clean refinery hydrogen for Europe.
The project began in 2018 with a 10-megawatt electrolyser capable of producing 1,300 tonnes of hydrogen per year.
The hydrogen produced by this project is used for:
- Processing and upgrading products at the Wesseling refinery site
- Testing the PEM technology at the largest scale achieved to date
- Exploring applications in other sectors including industry, power generation, heating for buildings and transport
ITM Power manufactured the first plant and will provide 100-megawatts of TRIDENT stacks and skids for REFHYNE II.
Dennis Schulz, Chief Executive Officer at ITM, says: “Shell is a leading global energy company, and we are proud they have selected us for this prestigious project.
“The performance of our latest generation electrolyser stacks in the REFHYNE I plant played an important role in Shell's proceeding to FID, as did their extensive due diligence on our technology and our capability to deliver this large-scale commercial project.”
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