Refining firm Neste has announced it will begin construction on a project to install a green hydrogen electrolyser at its renewable products refinery in Rotterdam.

The Multiplhy project is a collaboration between Neste, utility Engie, engineering company Paul Wurth, French public research organisation CEA and electrolyser manufacturer Sunfire.  The project has received funding from EU public-private partnership the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking.

It will install a 2.4MW solid oxide high-temperature electrolyser that will produce around 500t/yr of green hydrogen to be used in the refinery’s processes. The electrolyser will be provided by Sunfire.

Alongside anion exchange membrane technology, solid oxide electrolyser cells (SOECs) are seen as one of the two chief technologies that can rival the more established proton exchange membrane and alkaline electrolysis systems for green hydrogen production.

2.4MW – Planned size of electrolyser

Splitting high-temperature water vapour into hydrogen is more efficient than doing so with liquid water, and the Multiplhy partners say their project’s electrical efficiency will be at least 20pc higher than the efficiency of low-temperature electrolysers.

"We look forward to realising the implementation and commissioning of our SOEC electrolyser. Together with the strong Multiplhy consortium, we will demonstrate an innovative solution on how the refining industry can become more sustainable," says Sunfire CEO Nils Aldag.

Power-to-X

Neste has taken an equity investment in Sunfire with a view to developing solutions that use power-to-X—a term for storing surplus grid electricity—for generating green synthetic fuels. Demonstrating high-temperature electrolyser technology is an important step forward in the field of power-to-X, the refiner says.

“As part of Neste’s growth strategy we continue to focus on innovation, in which renewable hydrogen and power-to-X are two of our key development areas,” says Lars Peter Lindfors, senior vice-president of innovation at Neste.

“Demonstrating green hydrogen production at our Rotterdam refinery within the Multiplhy project is one of the initiatives enabling us to further drive the development of new sustainable technologies.”

Sunfire added alkaline electrolyser manufacture to its product portfolio in January this year by acquiring Swiss manufacturer Industrie Haute Technologie.

The firm has said it is experiencing so much demand for electrolysers that it will initiate a division specialising in alkaline electrolysis technology in addition to continuing with its solid oxide product line.

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Author: Tom Young