French oil major TotalEnergies and industrial gases company Air Liquide will develop two green hydrogen projects to help decarbonize TotalEnergies’ refineries in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The two projects, involving the construction of electrolyzers, represent a combined investment of more than EUR 1bn (USD 1.1bn) and are expected to cut CO2 emissions from TotalEnergies’ refineries by up to 450,000 metric tons annually, the companies said in a statement.
Green hydrogen is produced using renewable electricity and the electrolysis of water, rather than by stripping it from natural gas and releasing CO2. This process results in only water and oxygen as byproducts when the hydrogen is burned. Many European governments are including green hydrogen in plans to replace oil or natural gas in their economies by 2050.
However, high costs and uncertain demand have led some energy companies to freeze projects and reduce investment. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said he will continue to use renewable hydrogen as a feedstock in Total’s refineries to reduce net CO2 emissions.
Pouyanne also expressed reluctance to expand the hydrogen refueling station fleet from trucks to passenger cars until sufficient demand justifies the investment.
The first joint project, a 200 megawatt (MW) electrolyzer in Rotterdam, will be powered by TotalEnergies’ wind farms off the Dutch coast and is expected to begin operating at the end of 2027, TotalEnergies said.
This project represents a global investment of about EUR 600M for both companies, which have submitted subsidy requests under European and national programs.
Air Liquide and TotalEnergies will also establish a joint venture to build a 250 MW electrolyzer project in the Zeeland province of the Netherlands.