CEA-led consortium launches 2.6 MW Rotterdam green hydrogen project

CEA, Neste, Paul Wurth, Engie and Sunfire are to build a 2.6 MW high-temperature electrolyser for green hydrogen production in Rotterdam, the project partners said Tuesday.

The MULTIPLHY project is being developed at Neste's renewable products refinery in Rotterdam. Hydrogen would be used to make biofuels, they said.

"MULTIPLHY marks the first demonstration of an HTE in an industrial refining process with a nominal power input of 2.6 MW and a hydrogen production capacity of 60 kg/h reaching an electrical efficiency of up to 85% (AC to LHV H2)," the partners said.

The project is being coordinated by French research body CEA. It is receiving Eur6.9 million from the EU Horizon 2020 FCH2-JU program.

Neste produces renewable diesel and renewable jet fuel at Rotterdam. Paul Wurth is an engineering firm specializing in metals, Sunfire builds electrolysers while Engie has its own hydrogen business unit.

"This project shows the great progress being made in bringing our green hydrogen production technologies to the next level and paving the readiness for a further scale up to 100 MW," said Sunfire Managing Director Nils Aldag.

"H2 is considered the reducing agent of the future in the world of ironmaking," said Paul Wurth CEO Georges Rassel. Its involvement in the project was "an important part of our strategy for the transformation of the industry towards zero carbon emissions," he said.