Two of Europe’s largest energy companies, BP Plc and Orsted A/S, said they’d join to develop a industrial-scale electrolyzer to make hydrogen as a green fuel at a major oil refinery in Germany. If it gets financial backing, the plant at the BP’s Lingen refinery in northwestern Germany would draw 50 megawatts of electricity from North Sea wind farms to make hydrogen. The gas would power 20% of the refinery’s energy needs and replace streams of hydrogen now made with fossil fuels. It’s the latest example of interest in hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas and coal for industries that need thousand-degree heat to run their processes. With utilities cleaning up greenhouse gas pollution, policy makers especially in the European Union are focusing on how to slash emissions from heavy industry and finding hydrogen as one of the primary options.
The Lingen Green Hydrogen project will be one of Europe’s largest if it starts with in 2024. The companies have applied for money to support the investment from the European Union’s Innovation Fund, which backs low-carbon technologies.
The processes to make green hydrogen aren’t yet economically viable without government support. But if funding and “appropriate enabling policies” fall in place, BP and Orsted expect to make a final investment decision by early 2022.