United Kingdom is set to construct the world’s largest hydrogen electrolysis plant at the shell Rheinland refinery in Wessling, Germany that will help contribute to a cleaner, lower-carbon energy future.

Frans Dumoulin, Director of the Shell Rheinland Refinery confirmed the reports and said that ITM power have been contracted to develop the project which involves construction of 10MW hydrogen electrolysis plant.

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The plant will feature advanced polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) technology, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2020. It will produce up to 1,300 tons of hydrogen per year when operating at peak rates.

The hydrogen will be produced using electricity instead of natural gas. Producing hydrogen with electricity generated from renewable power sources could help significantly reduce CO2 emissions from the Shell Rheinland refinery.

“Oil products will continue to play an important role in the decades ahead, and this project means we will be able to make more and cleaner fuels, bitumen and base chemicals. At the same time, we want to contribute to accelerating the use of hydrogen in transport and other sectors,” said Frans Dumoulin.

The project is receiving funding from Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement. The joint undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and Hydrogen Europe Industry and Hydrogen Europe Research.

“Hydrogen has great potential for a climate-neutral energy system of the future. Produced from renewable electricity, it can serve as an important energy carrier and long-term storage in the transport, heating and industrial sectors and thus become a key element for the energy and traffic transition,” said Simon Bourne, Chief Technical Officer of ITM Power.