Europe is moving full steam on producing green hydrogen using renewable electricity and purified wastewater

The EU’s strategic objective to install at least 6 GW of electrolysers in the EU by 2024, producing up to 1 Mt of renewable hydrogen and 40 GW by 2030 producing up to 10 Mt1, is welcomed. Achieving this goal requires a cumulative investment of between €320 and 458 billion by 2030.

According to Sunfire is a global leader for industrial electrolyzers, Swedish “Project Air”, implementation is moving full steam ahead. Uniper has commissioned the Dresden-based company Sunfire to build a 30 MW pressurized alkaline electrolysis plant which will generate green hydrogen using renewable electricity and purified wastewater. The final investment decision is still pending.

Project Air is an industrial initiative to transform the chemical industry towards climate neutrality, with far-reaching effects throughout industrial value chains. The project is a collaboration between Perstorp Group and Uniper. An agreement with CINEA (European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency) on January 19 granted the project support from the EU Innovation Fund to facilitate its groundbreaking technology which is a critical enabler for the European chemicals industry to become carbon neutral.

Project Air will produce sustainable methanol for chemical manufacturing using circular production methods. Perstorp will build a Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) plant in Stenungsund, Sweden, that will convert carbon dioxide emissions captured from its operations as well as other residue streams, biogas and renewable hydrogen to methanol. Renewable hydrogen will be supplied by a pressurized alkaline electrolyzer developed and manufactured by Sunfire.

Finland’s first green hydrogen plant was laid in Harjavalta. P2X Solutions ordered a 20 MW alkaline electrolyzer from Sunfire to produce the renewable gas.

Finland’s Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä and Chairman of P2X Solutions’ Board Esa Härmälä attended the ceremony among other guests. “Today, we are making history in Finnish industry in Harjavalta,” underlines Esa Härmälä. “Once completed in 2024, P2X Solutions’ plant will open the market for Finnish green hydrogen.” P2X Solutions’ Harjavalta plant is Finland’s first industrial-scale green hydrogen production plant that is progressing to the construction phase.

German electrolysis company Sunfire is developing and producing the heart of the plant: a 20 MW pressurized alkaline electrolyzer. Start-up of the plant is scheduled for 2024. “As Finnish pioneer for green hydrogen, P2X Solutions is taking a decisive step for the country’s energy transition. We are proud to contribute to this important project with our electrolysis technology,” says Nils Aldag, CEO of Sunfire.

Green hydrogen production is part of Europe’s plan to move away from an economy that is based on fossil raw materials and energy. In the green hydrogen economy, fossil energy is replaced with renewable electricity, which is increasingly produced using wind and solar power. “The first large-scale hydrogen plant creates significant know-how in Finland on the national and even international level and employs several experts in various business areas and on multiple levels of the value chain. I am extremely proud of what P2X Solutions has accomplished as a team,” states Herkko Plit, CEO of P2X Solutions.

Cepsa will generate 10,000 jobs including direct, indirect, and induced to start up two new plants with total capacity of 2 GW producing up to 300,000 tons of green hydrogen at two new plants in Campo de Gibraltar (Cádiz) and Palos de la Frontera (Huelva).The Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley will help decarbonize industry and heavy land, air, and maritime transport, reducing CO₂ emissions by six million tons.

The project, presented today at an event attended by Spanish government officials and Cepsa’s CEO, among other authorities, will strengthen Spain’s ambition to lead the energy transition and guarantee an independent energy supply for Europe.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “This investment will help Spain achieve its goal to become an energy exporting country, with the first European green hydrogen corridor between the Campo de Gibraltar and the Dutch Port of Rotterdam. Andalusia has everything it takes to become one of the most competitive regions in the world for hydrogen production.”