REFHYNE I

The European consortium, consisting of Shell, ITM Power, SINTEF, thinkstep and Element Energy, has taken an important step towards reducing CO₂ emissions at the Shell Rheinland refinery in Wesseling with the ‘REFHYNE I’ project. Since July 2021, REFHYNE I has been covering part of the refinery's hydrogen requirements with green hydrogen produced using electricity from renewable energies. At the time of commissioning, the plant was the largest of its kind in the world. The project is funded by the European initiative ‘Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCHJU)’.  

Equipped with a PEM electrolyser from ITM Power, the plant has a capacity of ten megawatts and can produce around 1,300 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. This covers around one per cent of the refinery's hydrogen requirements. Thanks to the modular design of the electrolysis system, gradual expansion is possible, meaning that up to ten per cent of the site's requirements could be covered with green hydrogen in the future. Planning for the expansion of the plant, known as ‘REFHYNE II’, is already underway (see ‘REFHYNE II’ project).

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