The world’s largest green-hydrogen production facility has commenced operations in Austria, “setting an international milestone in the advancement of new energy supply options”, according to the project partners.

The 6MW H2Future plant, at steel maker Voestalpine’s site in Linz, running a Siemens Silyzer 300 PEM electrolyser that splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity provided by Austrian utility Verbund.

Green hydrogen is still at an early stage of development, although the technology is expected to be rapidly scaled up in the coming years, with businesses increasingly seeing the potential for the carbon-free fuel in long-term energy storage, heat, transport and industrial processes. Long-term electrolysis projects of 5GW are already in the pipeline, with larger pilot plants due to come on line in the coming years.

A 10MW PEM electrolysis plant, REFHYNE, is under construction at Shell's Rheinland refinery in Wesseling, Germany, and is due to be completed in the second half of 2020, while a 30MW pilot — part of a 700MW project — is expected to be up and running in northwest Germany by 2025.

Source: rechargenews.com