The construction will begin this fall and operations are expected to start in 2027. REFHYHNE II will be one of the largest clean hydrogen facilities in the world and will produce up to 44.000 kilograms of renewable hydrogen per day, which corresponds, for example, to the fuel requirement for about 550,000 kilometres of transport with zero emission hydrogen fuel-cell semi-trailers.
“This is a big step towards a carbon-free future. SINTEF has been heavily involved in European electrolysis research in the past two decades, participating in nearly 40 research and innovation projects on the hydrogen topic, from fundamental development of materials and components to pilot projects, and now large-scale implementation in both the industry and transport sectors. We are very happy to support the consortium in REFHYNE as coordinator of both the REFHYNE I and II projects,” says SINTEF CEO Alexandra Bech Gjørv.
Renewable hydrogen from REFHYNE II will be used at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park to produce energy products such as transport fuels with a lower carbon intensity.
“Today's announcement marks an important milestone in delivering our strategy of more value with less emissions. Investing in REFHYNE II is a visible demonstration of our commitment to the hydrogen economy, which will play an important role in helping to decarbonise Shell’s operations and customer products," said Shell’s Downstream, Renewables and Energy Solutions Director Huibert Vigeveno. “Our decision to invest illustrates what can be achieved with the right enabling conditions to deliver competitive projects.”
In the longer term, renewable hydrogen from REFHYNE II could be directly supplied to help lower industrial emissions in the region as customer demand evolves.
“Clean hydrogen is vital for decarbonizing the industry and transport sectors. The Refhyne II-project is a big step towards this, as the scale will improve both the technology and efficiency of PEM electrolysers and give us the learnings we need for future gigawatt facilities,” says senior project manager and coordinator of the REFHYNE I and II-projects, Anders Ødegård.
REFHYNE II is funded by the European Commission’s European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), whose mission is to support stakeholders in delivering the European Green Deal through high-quality programme management.
Key project partners are Shell, ITM Power (Trading) Ltd, ITM Power Germany GmbH, Linde GmbH, TECNALIA, ERM, CONCAWE and SINTEF.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101036970.
