Italian energy giants Enel and Eni are to work together to develop two green hydrogen projects.
The partners plan to produce the hydrogen through electrolysers powered by renewable energy near two Eni refineries in Italy.
They said that green hydrogen appears to be the best decarbonisation option at the refineries.
Each pilot project will feature electrolysers of around 10MW which are expected to start generating green hydrogen by 2022-2023.
Enel Group chief executive Francesco Starace said: “We are interested in exploring with Eni the promising green hydrogen sector.
“Together, we identified a couple of sites where we can start with the first projects.
“The overall system we have in mind will be working as a closed loop whereby the electrolyser fed by renewable energy and the refinery will be at the same location, therefore avoiding the construction of complex transport infrastructure to move hydrogen around.
“We are looking forward to seeing green hydrogen supplying Eni’s refinery and biorefinery processes, and are working to have the first operating system in place before the end of our current three-year plan.”
Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi (pictured) said: “This partnership in green hydrogen is part of Eni’s broader energy transition strategy.
“Our goal is to accelerate the reduction of our carbon footprint by implementing the best applicable low carbon solution, either green or blue, to reduce our direct emissions as well as switching to bio products to supply our clients.”
Enel is also developing green hydrogen projects in Spain, Chile and the US.
It said that should the expected economic improvements of green hydrogen industry be confirmed, the company plans to grow capacity to over 2GW by 2030.
Eni is also studying other hydrogen projects in Italy and in the UK.