MOL Group has handed over a 10MW green hydrogen plant in Százhalombatta, Hungary, the largest such site in Central and Eastern Europe.
The €22m investment makes fuel production more sustainable and will reduce the Danube Refinery’s carbon dioxide emissions by 25,000 tonnes.
MOL will be able to produce 1600 tonnes of green hydrogen per year, opening a new chapter in hydrogen economy, said the company.
It is planning two more green hydrogen plants in Rijeka and Bratislava.
The investment is in line with the MOL Group’s Shape Tomorrow corporate strategy to make the region more sustainable, competitive and self-sufficient.
The new technology will gradually replace the natural gas-based production process, which currently accounts for one sixth of the MOL Group’s total carbon dioxide emissions. The plant will start production in the second half of 2024 and MOL will use the green hydrogen primarily in its own network for fuel production.
Plug Power’s electrolysis equipment uses electricity from renewable sources to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen. This means that no polluting by-products are generated and, in fact, the plant produces 8-9 tonnes of pure oxygen per tonne of hydrogen.
The US company has offered MOL an innovative and reliable technology – the hydrogen generators, optimized for the production of pure hydrogen, have almost 50 years of operational experience, it said.
“MOL Group has reached another milestone: we can now produce green hydrogen without producing any greenhouse gases,” said MOL Group chief executive József Molnár at the inauguration ceremony of the new plant.
“Using this technology, we are able to achieve the same emissions reduction as if we took roughly 5500 cars off the road overnight.
“Today, our new green hydrogen plant is only making MOL’s industrial operations greener, but tomorrow it will offer solutions for the whole industry and hydrogen mobility.
“After Száhalombatta, we will take the technology to the other two fuel production units of the group to make the fuel production process more sustainable at each of MOL Group’s refineries.”
The investment is in line with the MOL Group’s Shape Tomorrow corporate strategy which aims to make the region more sustainable, competitive and self-sufficient.
Plug chief executive Andy Marsh added: “We are thrilled to celebrate, in partnership with MOL, the inauguration of one of Europe’s largest green hydrogen plants supporting a refinery.
“As a potent way to reduce carbon emissions within refinery operations, we are proud to equip MOL with cutting-edge electrolyzer technology to efficiently produce green hydrogen. Together, we are advancing towards carbon neutrality, fostering greener operations, and propelling the hydrogen economy forward.”