H2Tech - Q2 2021 - 17

EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINT

Maire Tecnimont CEO touts focus on
circular hydrogen
PIERROBERTO FOLGIERO, CEO, Maire Tecnimont Group and Managing Director, NextChem

H2Tech recently spoke with Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Maire Tecnimont Group and Managing Director of
NextChem, Maire Tecnimont's company
for green chemistry and energy transition technologies, about the Group's H2
development projects and H2 outlook.
H2T. NextChem is designing and
building the pilot unit for the EU's
PROMETEO project as part of its
Horizon 2020 initiative. What is
special about this project?

PIERROBERTO FOLGIERO is the CEO of Maire
Tecnimont Group and the Managing Director
of NextChem. He joined Maire Tecnimont
Group in September 2010 as CFO of KT SpA,
the Group's licensor and process engineering
contractor in oil and gas refining, and took
the position of Managing Director of the
company in June 2011. In May 2012, he was
appointed Managing Director of Tecnimont
SpA, the Group's large-scale EPC contractor in
hydrocarbon processing. In May 2012, he was
appointed COO of Maire Tecnimont SpA, and
became CEO of the entire Group in May 2013.
From April 2019, Mr. Folgiero also assumed
the position of Managing Director of NextChem,
a new company of the Group that operates in the
field of green chemistry and in energy transition
supporting technologies. He is also Chairman
of the Supervisory Board of Stamicarbon, the
licensing and IP excellency center of the Group.
Mr. Folgiero started his career at Agip Petroli
before moving to Ernst & Young as an Experienced
Assistant and later to PricewaterhouseCoopers
as Corporate Finance Manager. In 2000, he
joined WIND Telecomunicazioni SpA, becoming
Corporate Development Director in 2006. In June
2008, he joined Tirrenia di Navigazione SpA as
Chief Financial Officer and General Manager,
where he spearheaded the shipping company's
restructuring and privatization process.
He graduated in economics studies from Luiss
Guido Carli University in Rome in 1995, where
he is now a member of the university's advisory
board, and he is a chartered accountant in Italy.

PF. The plant is based on solid oxide
electrolysis (SOE), a highly efficient technology that converts heat and power into
H2 from water, powered by renewable
energies. The challenge is to optimize the
coupling of the SOE with two intermittent renewable energies: non-programmable renewable electricity (wind or
photovoltaic) and high-temperature solar
heat from concentrating solar systems
with thermal energy storage to supply
solar heat when power is made available.
H2T. What learnings do the
PROMETEO Consortium partners
hope to achieve from this project,
and how will the results be applied
to future projects?

PF. The ambition of the consortium
is to make significant advances toward
integrated SOE technology, which maximizes H2 production efficiency and minimizes the impact of renewable energies
intermittency by incorporating the solar
thermal energy storage. To this end, the
PROMETEO project addresses key innovations involving development and validation at semi-industrial scale. The project will also develop a portfolio of tools
for optimization, system performance
and dynamic performance analysis that
can be applied to future projects.

H2T. NextChem recently signed
an MOU with Enel Green Power
for H2 production for a biorefinery
in the U.S. via electrolysis, using
solar power. What is NextChem's
role in this venture?

PF. Maire Tecnimont, through
NextChem and Enel Green Power and
through its North American renewables
subsidiary, Enel Green Power North
America Inc., has signed an MOU to
support the production of green H2 via
electrolysis in the U.S. Enel, with a strong
track record of project commercialization
and a large renewable operations footprint
in the U.S., will leverage NextChem's H2
technology and engineering expertise to
grow its green H2 business in the U.S.
The project, which is expected to be
operational in 2023, will convert renewable energy from one of Enel Green Power
North America's solar plants in the U.S.
into green H2 to be supplied to a biorefinery. Under the agreement, NextChem will
act as technology and engineering partner
and full turnkey EPC contractor, providing
Enel Green Power with the necessary technical assistance in relation to the development and implementation of the project.
We are very proud to be Enel's partner of choice in this industrial initiative,
which enhances our Group's expertise in
the H2 chemistry applied for the production of green H2 from solar energy and
which represents a relevant step in the development of our green H2 initiatives. The
U.S. market is really interesting for us, and
we are looking at it with great attention.
The agreement represents the first
application of a framework cooperation
agreement between Enel and NextChem
to evaluate the implementation of joint
projects, including the testing of advanced
technologies to increase efficiency in the
production of green H2 using renewables.
H2Tech | Q2 2021

H2Tech - Q2 2021

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