ITM Power: Funding Secured for Refhyne II

8th October 2021

ITM Power (AIM: ITM), the energy storage and clean fuel company, is pleased to announce that the Refhyne II consortium has been awarded a grant of €32.4m by CINEA (the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency) for the development of a 100 MW electrolyser to be sited at Shell’s Energy and Chemicals Park, Rheinland. The Refhyne II consortium comprises Shell Deutschland GmbH, ITM Power and ITM Power GmbH, Linde Engineering, ITM Linde Electrolysis GmbH, Fundacion Tecnalia Research & Innovation, Element Energy and Concawe, and is coordinated by Sintef AS.

Refhyne II is the follow-on project to the 10 MW Refhyne I, Europe’s largest PEM hydrogen electrolyser, which began operations in July this year, with support from the European Commission’s Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking Refhyne I uses renewable electricity to produce up to 1,300 tonnes of green hydrogen a year. This will initially be used to produce fuels with lower carbon intensity. The green hydrogen will also be used to help decarbonise other industries. The Rheinland site, near Cologne, is where Shell intends to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using renewable power and biomass in the future.

The 100 MW Refhyne II project will see an engineering design phase which will be followed by a final investment decision (FID) expected in late 2022 with delivery then scheduled for 2024.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101036970.

Dr Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power, said: “Having successfully delivered the 10 MW Refhyne I project, the consortium partners will take the experience and learning they have gained to scale up tenfold for Refhyne II. This is a world leading project that demonstrates the increasing commitment by governments and industry to decarbonise, at scale, using zero carbon footprint green hydrogen. We are delighted to be a part of it.”

Paul Bogers, Shell VP Hydrogen, said: “Refhyne II is an important project for Shell as part of our drive towards developing and scaling our green hydrogen capabilities. It will contribute to our efforts to build markets for hydrogen and successively reduce costs, in line with our strategy to help our partners and customers decarbonise and move towards net-zero emissions.”

Michael Schaeffer, Vice President Hydrogen & Synthesis Gas Plants, Linde Engineering said: “We look forward to contributing to this lighthouse project in the field of green hydrogen and to partnering with Shell, building on our good relationship from other projects. Linde Engineering will execute this project in close alignment with the other consortium partners and are proud to contribute our expertise to this team effort.”

Alexandra Bech Gjørv, President and CEO of SINTEF said: “The significance of this project is that it allows us to take a big step towards a zero-emission future, where both heavy transport and the industry can obtain fuel from renewable energy.”

Ben Madden, Partner of Element Energy, an ERM Group company, said: “The global imperative for clean and innovative new ways to decarbonise our industries has never been greater and we are thrilled to be a part of this project, showcasing our boots to boardroom capability to turn strategic commitment into technical delivery. There is a real need to ensure these large electrolyser systems are installed and tested to demonstrate and assess the economically viable production of green hydrogen at scale. Building on what we have learned and achieved in REFHYNE I, the REFHYNE II project will help to take a globally meaningful step towards the goal of carbon neutrality.”

In the film below ITM Power CEO Graham Cooley provides an outline of ITM Power’s business and the future for the renewable energy sector