H2Tech - Q1 2021 - 15

REGIONAL REPORT: EUROPE
The planned project is a step toward
BP's promise to reduce its fossil fuel
production by 40% through 2030 and
increase its investment in sustainable
energy solutions. BP will take a final
investment decision (FID) on the project in 2022, depending on EU funding.
The project is also intended to support a
longer-term ambition to build more than
500 MW of renewable-powered electrolyzer capacity at Lingen.
Masshylia in France. The Masshylia
project at Total's 500,000-metric-tpy Le
Mède biorefinery in France (OPENING
PHOTO) is a JV between Total and Engie
to design, develop, build and operate an
H2 production site, powered by solar
farms with a total capacity of more than
100 MW. The 40-MW electrolyzer will
produce approximately 1,825 metric
tpy of green H2 to meet the needs of the
plant's biofuel production process and
simultaneously avoid 15,000 metric tpy
of CO2 emissions.
A large-scale solution for H2 storage
will be implemented to manage the intermittent production of solar electricity
and the biorefinery's need for continuous H2 supply. Construction is slated to
start in 2022, with operation targeted for
2024. Beyond this first phase, new renewable farms may be developed by the
partners for the electrolyzer, which will
have the capacity to produce up to 5,500
metric tpy of green H2.
Westküste 100 in Germany. The 30MW pilot phase of the planned, 700-MW
green H2 project at Raffinerie Heide's refinery in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
is under construction by the H2 Westküste JV comprising EDF Deutschland,
windpower developer Ørsted and independent refiner Raffinerie Heide. If the
€89-MM, 5-yr pilot phase is successful,
then the JV will move forward with its
700-MW electrolyzer project to produce
H2 for nearby cement manufacturing and
local residential heating.
A large percentage of the green H2
would be combined with CO2 captured
from the cement plant to produce synthetic methanol, which would then be
refined into synthetic jet fuel for use at
the Hamburg airport. Some of the green
H2 would also be used as fuel for local
transportation. Additionally, up to 10
metric MMt of H2 could be stored inside
salt caverns on the Heide refinery's land,
and transported on an existing, bidirec-

tional H2 pipeline to a nearby Linde facility for distribution.

European industry's
commitment to becoming
a net-zero emitter of CO2
by 2050, in line with EU
climate goals, will result
in a marked increase in
European production
of clean and renewable
energies and energy
carriers, including H2.
Foundations for green growth. Although these green H2 industrial projects
are at limited scale and will not produce
enough H2 to meet the refineries' total
H2 requirements, they are important
demonstration projects to show what is
possible for the future of H2 in European
industry. Funding is a necessity for such
projects, as nearly all of the ventures detailed here have incorporated EU funding into their feasibility studies.
" These projects are critical for moving green H2 to an industrial level, but at
the moment they need support, " commented Joris Mertens, Principal Consultant at KBC, A Yokogawa Company, on
an H2TechTalk podcast in early February. " But one of the ways to reduce the
cost of green H2 is scaling up to reduce
the investment cost. One main cost factor is the cost of power, and the other
is electrolyzers, which will be getting
cheaper with novel technology and larger scale, " Mertens explained.6
Similarly, a 2018 technical report
from the European Commission's science and knowledge service, the Joint
Research Center ( JRC), stated that,
" Following expected general technoeconomic developments, with more and
more renewable energy introduced and
distributed by a larger, more efficient
grid, the fraction of green hydrogen used
in fuel refining will have the opportunity

to grow and, depending on the scenario
considered, potentially reach a steady
maximum around 2050. " 3
However, the JRC report also noted,
" The recognition of the role green hydrogen can play, and legislation introducing a clear methodology, such as
mass balancing to account for its use in
refining processes, is needed to support
its introduction. It is anticipated that
regulations other than the EU European
Trading Scheme (REDII, for example)
will offer higher incentives and, therefore, will be more relevant for the industry than those associated with the European Emissions Trading Scheme. "
As regulatory and market frameworks
are further developed and refined for H2
(e.g., the FCH JU's Certif Hy Guarantee
of Origin EU-wide program for green
H2), demand for low-carbon and zerocarbon H2 will continue to grow. European industry's commitment to becoming a net-zero emitter of CO2 by 2050, in
line with EU climate goals, will result in
a marked increase in European production of clean and renewable energies and
energy carriers, including H2. In line with
this increase, greater substitution will be
seen of green H2 for gray H2 in industrial
processes, as well as increased utilization
of CO2 capture in methane reforming to
produce blue H2 for industrial use.
NOTES
a " Green " H2 is produced from electrolyzers that are
powered by zero-emissions renewable energy.
b " Blue " H2 is produced from the reforming of
methane, with the resulting CO2 captured and
stored to offset environmental impact.
c
" Gray " H2 is produced from the reforming of
methane and does not include CO2 capture-i.e.,
the most common type of H2 used in industry.
LITERATURE CITED
1 European Commission, " A hydrogen strategy
for a climate-neutral Europe, " July 7, 2020,
Brussels, Belgium.
2 Bartlett, J. and A. Krupnick, " The potential of
hydrogen for decarbonization: Reducing emissions
in oil refining and ammonia production, "
Resources, February 4, 2021.
3 Wood Mackenzie, " Green hydrogen costs to fall
by up to 64% by 2040, " August 25, 2020.
4 German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs
and Energy, " The national hydrogen strategy, "
Berlin, Germany, June 2020.
5 Dolci, F., " Green hydrogen opportunities in selected
industrial processes, " European Commission Joint
Research Center, Technical Report, June 26, 2018,
Brussels, Belgium.
6 H2TechTalk, " Optimizing and decarbonizing
industrial hydrogen supply, " Podcast interview with
Joris Mertens, February 2, 2021, Online: https://
blubrry.com/h2techtalk/73352437/optimizingand-decarbonizing-industrial-hydrogen-supply
H2Tech | Q1 2021 15

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