Green hydrogen projects ramp up in Europe

Multiple companies have announced major low- or zero-carbon hydrogen projects in Europe, bolstering the region’s aim to become the world’s preeminent producer of green hydrogen.

The Indian energy company Essar is partnering with the UK’s Progressive Energy to build two plants at Essar’s refinery in Stanlow, England, using Johnson Matthey technology for making low-carbon hydrogen from natural gas and fuel gases. The H₂ generated from this process is categorized as blue because by-product carbon dioxide will be captured and stored, in this case in depleted undersea gas fields 60 km offshore. The partners plan to spend about $1 billion on the two plants, with the first to open in 2025.

“This marks a massive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over current grey hydrogen production,” says Eugene McKenna, managing director for Johnson Matthey’s green hydrogen business.

In Leuna, Germany, a joint venture between Linde and ITM Power plans what the companies say will be the world’s largest electrolyzer plant based on proton-exchange membranes. It will make zero-carbon H₂, also known as green hydrogen, by splitting water using renewable energy. The 24 MW plant is set to open in late 2022.

Meanwhile, Air Liquide has acquired a 40% stake in the French company H2V Normandy, which plans to build a substantial hydrogen plant using water electrolysis in northern France.

And in the south of France, Total and the hydrogen technology firm Engie will jointly build and operate a 40MW electrolyzer plant, powered by renewable energy, to generate 5 metric tons (t) per day of green H₂. The facility is due to start up in 2024 at Total’s La Mède biorefinery.

These and other projects are emerging just as the European Commission has launched its Global Mission Innovation Hydrogen Valley Platform, a program to gather and share data on large hydrogen projects.