Shell builds ‘Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plant’

Plans to build a large hydrogen plant in the Netherlands will proceed after the final investment decision of the subsidiaries of the giant oil and gas group Cover.

In an announcement on Wednesday, Shell said the Holland Hydrogen I facility will be “Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plant” when operational in 2025.

According to Shell, the 200-megawatt electrolyzer will be located at the Port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest seaport, generating up to 60,000 kilograms of renewable hydrogen per day.

Hydrogen has a wide variety of applications and can be deployed in many industries. It can be produced in a number of ways. One method involves using electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen.

If the electricity used in this process comes from a renewable source such as wind or the sun then some call it “green” or “renewable” hydrogen.

Shell says the electrolysis plant in the Netherlands will use renewable energy from the Hollandse Kust (noord) offshore wind farm, a 759 MW project slated to come online in 2023. Shell is the owner. owns part of the wind farm.

The hydrogen generated by the plant will be delivered to the Shell Rotterdam Chemical and Energy Park using a new hydrogen pipeline called the HyTransPort.

The idea is that this renewable hydrogen “will replace some of the gray hydrogen” – produced with fossil fuels – used at the site. “This will partially eliminate the facility’s production of energy products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel,” Shell said.

In a statement, Anna Mascolo, Shell’s executive vice president of emerging energy solutions, said renewable hydrogen will “play an important role in the energy system of the future and this project”. is an important step in helping hydrogen reach its full potential. “