Shell consortium plans bulk hydrogen production project

A consortium of Shell Deutschland Oil and Shell Energy Europe with partners ITM Power, SINTEF, thinkstep and Element Energy plans a project to install a large scale electrolyser to produce hydrogen at the Wesseling refinery site within the Rheinland Refinery Complex. With a capacity of ten megawatts, this would be the largest unit of its kind in Germany and the world’s largest PEM (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane) electrolyser.
September 4, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

A consortium of Shell Deutschland Oil and Shell Energy Europe with partners ITM Power, SINTEF, thinkstep and Element Energy plans a project to install a large scale electrolyser to produce hydrogen at the Wesseling refinery site within the Rheinland Refinery Complex.

With a capacity of ten megawatts, this would be the largest unit of its kind in Germany and the world’s largest PEM (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane) electrolyser. This electrolyser technology is also suitable to improve the stability of the electricity grid with a growing share of intermittent renewable energy sources, such as from solar and wind.

The consortium has been invited to the preparation of a grant agreement by the European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH 2 JU), following a competitive call for proposals.

Today, the refinery uses approximately 180,000 tons of hydrogen per year in its various plants. The hydrogen is currently produced as a by-product of the refining process or through natural gas reforming, while electrolysis uses electricity to split water into the base components of hydrogen and oxygen.

The project aims to enable the construction and operation of a large scale10 MW electrolyser that can produce high quality hydrogen and CO2 free hydrogen while demonstrating technology and cost improvements through up-scaling and new business applications. Electrolysis using low-cost renewable electricity could be a key technology for a potential CO2 free hydrogen production in the Shell Rheinland Refinery.

Related Content

  • EasyMile backs AVs to shine 
    February 1, 2021
    EZ10 driverless shuttle fitted with Sono solar panels to shorten recharging times
    Read More
  • Cop27: 'Act now' on transport
    November 18, 2022
    Ertico, IRF Geneva and Asecap are among organisations calling for change to meet 2050 goals
    Read More
  • Best laid plans
    March 22, 2012
    Colossal is not too bold a word to describe the scale of ITS developments currently under way in Europe. The European Commission’s ITS Action Plan has six areas of focus, each of which expands out into numerous projects involving a lot of leg work by various committees, working groups or consultants. Add to that the supporting work and research efforts of the many parts of Ertico (ITS Europe); plus each of the 27 European Union member states is working on ‘transition’ of the EU’s ITS Directive into their ow
    Read More
  • New EU project to develop an 'internet of mobility'
    February 6, 2013
    Over the next three and a half years, the US$21.1 million Mobinet project aims to capitalise on the widespread growth in smartphones, mobile data services, and cloud-based computing to launch a new generation of travel apps for European citizens, and transport services for businesses and local authorities. Intelligent transport services (ITS) apply leading-edge mobile communications and information technology to make travel safer, smarter and cleaner, but the challenge is to deploy these Europe-wide and to
    Read More

Highlighted Content