The pioneering MultiPLHY project demonstrating renewable hydrogen production has reached a key milestone: The consortium partners have successfully started up the world's largest multi-megawatt high-temperature electrolyzer (HTE) in an industrial environment at Neste’s renewable products refinery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The pilot project demonstrates the viability of renewable hydrogen in reducing the use of fossil hydrogen in the refining industry. Replacing hydrogen produced from fossil raw materials with renewable hydrogen is one of the key means to lower greenhouse gas emissions in refining. As a next step in the demonstration project, a test program will validate the technology's performance characteristics.
MultiPLHY is a demonstration project with consortium partners Neste, Sunfire, CEA, and ENGIE. The high-temperature electrolyzer is provided by the German electrolyzer manufacturer Sunfire and the hydrogen processing unit (HPU) by SMS group. Neste is responsible for the refinery integration and together with Sunfire oversees the operation of the unit. The research and technology organization CEA coordinates the project, and ENGIE is in charge of techno-economic assessment.
"The MultiPLHY project has given Neste valuable insights and experience in integrating industrial-scale renewable hydrogen production into our refinery. We remain committed to exploring different pathways to replace fossil-based hydrogen in our refining processes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our own operations. This demonstration project also shows the importance of cooperation across the whole value chain," says Jukka Kanerva, Senior Vice President, Renewable Refining at Neste.
The electrolyzer integrated into Neste's refinery processes is based on SOEC (Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell) technology by Sunfire. The high-temperature electrolyzer (2.6 MW) consists of twelve electrolysis modules, operating at high temperatures of 850°C to produce more than 60 kg of renewable hydrogen per hour. Due to the utilization of heat, the high-temperature electrolyzer requires significantly less electricity to produce renewable hydrogen compared to other solutions on the market.
“Thanks to their unrivaled efficiency, our high-temperature SOEC electrolyzers will be the preferred solution in many applications where waste heat is available. The MultiPLHY project demonstrates that the innovative technology can be integrated into industrial environments at a large scale. We are proud of this big milestone,” underlines Nils Aldag, CEO of Sunfire.
“High-temperature electrolysis has the potential to make renewable hydrogen more affordable while increasing the energy efficiency of various industrial processes globally. The construction and commissioning achieved by Sunfire and Neste is a tremendous achievement and a big step in making green hydrogen competitive,” says Pierre Olivier, Head of Hydrogen Lab from ENGIE.
“We are thrilled to witness the successful operation of the high-temperature electrolyzer at Neste’s refinery in Rotterdam. This installation is the largest of its kind in an industrial environment and represents a significant milestone for both the technology and the clean hydrogen sector. I would like to congratulate all the project partners for making this project a reality and advancing the European electrolyser industry as a whole,” says Mirela Atanasiu, Head of Unit Operations and Communication, Clean Hydrogen Partnership.
This project has received funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (now Clean Hydrogen Partnership) under grant agreement No 875123. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Hydrogen Europe and Hydrogen Europe research.
