Large-scale deployment of clean hydrogen at a fast pace is vital if the EU wants to succeed in reducing emissions by 50-55% by 2030, in a cost-effective way. The Commissions’ new hydrogen strategy, unveiled on Wednesday, focuses on green hydrogen derived from wind and solar power.
Aiming for 6 GW of clean hydrogen by 2024
In the first phase (2020-24), the plan is to decarbonise existing hydrogen production, e.g. in the chemical sector, and promote it for new application. The aim is to install at least 6 Gigawatt (GW) of renewable hydrogen electrolysers in the EU by 2024, compared to approximately 1 GW of electrolysers installed today.
Starting from 2024, hydrogen is meant to become an “intrinsic part” of an integrated energy system based on the addition of least 40 GW of renewable hydrogen electrolysers by 2030, capable to produce of up to ten million tonnes of renewable hydrogen in the EU.
Shell’s embraces hydrogen, forges ahead with REFHYNE
Shell sees potential in hydrogen. “We know the enormous contribution it can make to decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors, such as heavy-duty transport and industry,” said Elisabeth Brinton, executive Vice President, New Energies at Shell. “That is why we are working to develop hydrogen as a storage vector for renewables and as a net-zero energy carrier for commercial and industrial customers. We are also exploring ways of delivering green hydrogen produced from offshore wind,” she explained.
The REFHYNE project at the Shell Rhineland refinery in Wesseling, near Cologne in Germany, is designed to become the world’s largest hydrogen electrolyser. The plant, funded by the European Commission’s Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), will be jointly operated by Shell and manufactured by ITM Power.
Once operational, ITM Power’s 10MW PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolyser will produce around 1300 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. This decarbonised hydrogen can be fully integrated into refinery processes, e.g. for desulphurisation of conventional fuels.
Works at the REFHYNE project began in January 2018, and the project is designed to run for 5 years to December 2022. Start of commercial operations is targeted for early 2021.
NortH2 project to harvest wind energy
Shell is also involved in other European hydrogen projects, notably a large electrolyser in Rotterdam, Netherlands, which aims to transform offshore wind energy into green hydrogen for use as a transport fuel.
The Anglo-Dutch oil major company is part of a consortium aiming to build the largest European green hydrogen project in the Netherlands by 2040.
This project is still subject to a feasibility study, but if given the go-ahead, NortH2 will be capable of producing 800,000 tonnes of green hydrogen by electricity generated from an offshore wind farm in the North Sea.