UK-based chemicals and energy firm Ineos has unveiled a plan to invest €2bn ($2.3bn) on electrolysis projects across Europe, providing a major boost to the region's nascent green hydrogen sector.
The company said it aims to build plants in Norway, Germany and Belgium over the next 10 years, and is also planning investment in the UK and France. "Europe is crying out for more investment in green hydrogen and Ineos' announcement today shows our determination to play a leading role in this important new fuel," Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe said.
Ineos will kick-start the investment programme in Norway with a renewable energy-powered 20MW electrolyser at its Rafnes chemicals site. The project was first announced by Ineos' Inovyn subsidiary in March. The company said the new unit will not only reduce the carbon footprint of the Rafnes complex, but will also serve as a hydrogen hub for Norway's transport sector. It estimates that the project will lead to a reduction of at least 22,000 t/yr of CO2.
Ineos has even more ambitious plans for Germany, where it aims to build a 100MW electrolyser to produce green hydrogen at its site in Cologne. The project will reduce CO2 emissions at the site by an estimated 120,000 t/yr, while hydrogen from the new unit will be used to produce green ammonia. It will also provide an opportunity "to develop e-fuels through power-to-methanol applications on an industrial scale", Ineos said.
The company said it is also developing projects in Belgium, France and the UK, and expects to announce partnerships with "leading organisations involved in the development of new hydrogen applications". It has not provided a breakdown on how much of the €2bn will be allocated to each project, nor any timelines.
The investment plan comes around a year after Ineos launched a new UK-based green hydrogen business as part of Inovyn, which it claims is already Europe's largest existing operator of electrolysis. As well as building green hydrogen capacity at Ineos' own sites, the new business will look at potential partner sites where hydrogen can accelerate the decarbonisation of energy.
Ineos' Grangemouth refining and petrochemicals complex in Scotland is a candidate for green hydrogen output in the future. Earlier this month, the firm announced plans to build a 150,000 t/yr blue hydrogen plant there as part of a £1bn ($1.37bn) project to help achieve net zero emissions at the complex by 2045. Blue hydrogen — which is produced using natural gas and the resulting carbon is captured and stored — is only a first step. Ineos told Argus that it expects green hydrogen to play a major role in achieving net zero at Grangemouth in 2030-40.
