Europe sees record hydrogen FIDs

A slew of announcements includes projects in Germany, which has now doubled its ‘firm' capacity, write Pamela Machado and Stefan Krumpelmann

European renewable hydrogen project developers have taken final investment decisions (FIDs) in July on five plants with a combined electrolysis capacity of more than 450MW, marking a new monthly record.

Shell last week gave the green light to its 100MW Refhyne 2 project at its Rheinland chemicals and refinery complex in western Germany. The facility could produce about 15,000 t/yr of renewable hydrogen from 2027, Shell says. This would primarily be used to decarbonise Shell's refinery operations, although some might also be delivered to other industrial consumers in the region, according to the firm.

In Belgium, a group of companies led by developer Virya Energy took an FID for the 25MW Hyoffwind plant at Zeebrugge port, due to start production in 2026. Output will be delivered to the mobility and industrial sectors and for blending into the Belgian gas network. The project could later be expanded to 100MW, Virya says. It is Belgium's first commercial-scale facility to reach FID.

Approval for Refhyne 2 and Hyoffwind came after significant delays — both projects were initially due to reach the FID stage in 2022. Shell said in March 2023 that it had delayed the FID for Refhyne 2 because UK firm ITM — which is supplying the electrolyser system for the project — had scaled down expansion plans. Shell also cited regulatory uncertainties in the EU. For Hyoffwind, delayed disbursement of funding support from the EU and the Flemish government — together covering about €30mn of the project's €80mn price tag — might have contributed to the delay.

The two FIDs followed the go-ahead from German utility EWE earlier this month for two electrolysis plants that are part of its Clean Hydrogen Coastline scheme. This had included a planned facility in Emden on Germany's North Sea coast — now the largest plant in Europe to have reached FID. EWE last week followed the FID on the Emden plant with an announcement that compatriot Siemens Energy will supply a 280MW proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser system for the plant. The Emden plant is expected to start operations in 2027 and will have a total electricity consumption of 320MW, with the remaining 40MW needed for auxiliary functions, EWE says.

The FIDs taken this month are a step change for Germany. In February, the country had just under 390MW of electrolysis capacity in operation or with an FID taken, according to utility Eon. This means this month's final approvals have more than doubled the country's ‘firm' capacity.

More FIDs could follow soon. EWE's go-ahead was triggered by Berlin finally disbursing long-awaited state aid from the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) framework. A slew of other developers, including utility RWE, industrial gas firm Air Liquide and renewables developer Enertrag, were also handed confirmation of their IPCEI funds earlier this month and might also advance their projects on the back of this.

Developers elsewhere, such as in Spain, have also recently been awarded IPCEI funds 13 that could pave the way for FIDs. BP says it is "in the process" of taking an FID for a facility in Castellon, Spain, which could be followed by the go-ahead for a plant in Lingen, Germany, later this year. And in the UK, firms could shortly conclude final negotiations with the government over support under the first hydrogen allocation round, which might similarly push projects over the line.