OMV AG said Wednesday it had signed a EUR 123-million ($143.62 million) funding deal with government bank Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH for a 140-megawatt (MW) renewable hydrogen project in Lower Austria.
The agreement follows an endorsement for funding by the European Hydrogen Bank, OMV said in an online statement. The Austrian state-backed energy company previously said it was finalizing a funding agreement with the European Hydrogen Bank, an EU Innovation Fund financing platform to scale up the green hydrogen value chain across the 27-nation bloc and partner countries.
“OMV is investing a sum in the mid-hundreds of millions of euros in Bruck an der Leitha”, Wednesday’s statement said.
Last year OMV and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co PJSC (Masdar) signed a binding agreement to form a joint venture for the under-construction electrolyzer, designed to produce up to 23,000 metric tons per annum (MMtpa) of hydrogen.
Expected to start production 2027, it would be the biggest green hydrogen plant in Austria and Southeastern Europe and among the top five across the continent, according to OMV. The plant’s electrolytic process to split water into hydrogen and oxygen is planned to use wind, solar and hydro power.
OMV is to own 51 percent and Masdar 49 percent. They expect to complete the formation of the JV “early 2026” subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, they said in a joint statement November 6.
The plant would partly fuel OMV’s Schwechat refinery to cut carbon emissions by up to 150,000 MMtpa, around 10 percent of the refinery’s production-related emissions, according to OMV.
The hydrogen facility and the refinery, which has a crude oil processing capacity of 9.6 MMtpa, would be connected via a 22-kilometer (13.67-mile) pipeline, according to OMV.
OMV awarded Germany’s Siemens Energy AG the engineering, procurement and construction contract, including the supply of the plant’s electrolysis technology. OMV contracted Vienna-based STRABAG AG for the civil construction work, OMV said September 29 announcing the laying of the plant’s foundation stone.
OMV and Masdar said of the JV, “The partnership lays the foundation for a future strategic collaboration between OMV and Masdar to explore green hydrogen, synthetic sustainable aviation fuels (e-SAF) and synthetic chemicals production in both the UAE and Central and Northern Europe, following the signing of the letter of intent in April earlier this year”.
On April 30 OMV announced the start of production at its first commercial-scale green hydrogen facility, built with a capacity of 1,500 MMtpa at the Schwechat refinery. The plant uses a 10-MW PEM (polymer electrolyte membrane) electrolyzer powered by hydro, solar and wind energy, according to OMV.
The process avoids up to 15,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions a year, equivalent to the CO2 consumption of 2,000 persons per year based on the European Union average, according to OMV.
Output from the hydrogen plant would be used to decarbonize the refinery and produce more sustainable fuels and chemicals including sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel, OMV said.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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