UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
TotalEnergies and Air Liquide team up to decarbonise Benelux refineries
26/2/2025
News
French oil major TotalEnergies and industrial gases company Air Liquide are to develop two electrolyser projects in the Netherlands for the production and delivery of 45,000 t/y of green hydrogen that will help TotalEnergies decarbonise its Dutch and Belgian refineries.
The two companies are to set up a 50-50 joint venture which will build and operate a 250 MW electrolyser near the Zeeland refinery. This project will produce up to 30,000 t/y of green hydrogen, most of which will be delivered to the Zeeland plant. The electrolyser will be commissioned in 2029 and is expected to cut the refinery’s CO2 emissions by up to 300,000 t/y.
The project represents a global investment of around €600mn for TotalEnergies and Air Liquide. They say they have made requests for support under European and national subsidy programmes and will be seeking project funding elsewhere.
In addition, TotalEnergies has signed a tolling agreement for 130 MW of Air Liquide’s 200 MW ELYgator electrolyser project located in Maasvlakte, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to be dedicated to the production of 15,000 t/y of green hydrogen for its refinery in Antwerp, Belgium. The project is expected to be operational by the end of 2027 and is expected to reduce CO2 emissions at the Antwerp refinery by up to 150,000 t/y.
Both electrolyser projects will use renewable power from the 795 MW OranjeWind project offshore the Netherlands, being developed by TotalEnergies (50%) and RWE (50%). (See Fig 1.)
‘Flagship projects such as [these], will play a key role in reducing emissions, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors such as industry and heavy mobility,’ comments Emilie Mouren-Renouard, member of the Air Liquide Executive Committee, in charge of Europe operations.
TotalEnergies says the use of low-carbon hydrogen to decarbonise its European refineries should help reduce its annual CO2 emissions by around 3mn tonnes by 2030. It has already contracted over 170,000 t/y of green hydrogen for its La Mède, Grandpuits and Normandy refineries in France, Leuna in Germany, and its refineries in Belgium and Netherlands.
Fig 1: The Air Liquid and TotalEnergies Zeeland and Maasvlakte electrolyser projects will use renewable power from the offshore 795 MW OranjeWind project to produce green hydrogen that will help decarbonise TotalEnergies’ refineries in Netherlands and Belgium
Source: TotalEnergies
Wood to deliver engineering for major European green hydrogen facility
In related news, consulting and engineering company Wood has been awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) scope for the planned Zeevonk hydrogen facility with reportedly up to 1 GW capacity in Maasvlakte. The hydrogen plant will be powered by a 2 GW wind farm and 50 MWp floating solar farm, both offshore the Netherlands.
The Zeevonk project is a joint venture between energy company Vattenfall and greenfield renewables fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
Once complete, the produced green hydrogen will be transported via pipeline to the nearby hydrogen grid, Hydrogen Network Rotterdam. This network is the first phase of the new Dutch hydrogen infrastructure that is centred in the Port of Rotterdam.
