MOL Group Invests €22M in Green Hydrogen to Reduce CO2 at Danube Refinery

MOL Grou’s new green hydrogen plant in Százhalombatta, Hungary was recently outfitted with, created by Plug Power, to produce approximately 1,600 tons of carbon-neutral green hydrogen per year. The Hungary-based Danube Refinery will benefit from the €22 million investment by a reduction of more than 25,000 tons of CO2 per year. The plant will start producing later this year.

"MOL Group has reached another milestone: We can now produce green hydrogen without producing any greenhouse gases. Using this technology, we are able to achieve the same emissions reduction as if we took roughly 5,500 cars off the road overnight,” said József Molnár, CEO of MOL Group.

The electrolyzer technology will replace the natural gas-based production process over time, which currently accounts for one-sixth of the MOL Group's total CO2 emissions. The plan is for MOL to use the green hydrogen primarily in its own network for fuel production.

“Today, our new green hydrogen plant is only making MOL's industrial operations greener, but tomorrow it will offer solutions for the whole industry and hydrogen mobility,” Molnár said. “After Száhalombatta, we will take the technology to the other two fuel production units of the group to make the fuel production process more sustainable at each of MOL Group's refineries."

Plug Power's electrolysis equipment uses electricity from renewable sources to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen. It offered MOL hydrogen generators, optimized for the production of pure hydrogen, that have almost 50 years of operational experience.

“We are thrilled to celebrate, in partnership with MOL, the inauguration of one of Europe's largest green hydrogen plants supporting a refinery," stated Plug CEO Andy Marsh. "As a potent way to reduce carbon emissions within refinery operations, we are proud to equip MOL with electrolyzer technology to efficiently produce green hydrogen. Together, we are advancing toward carbon neutrality, fostering greener operations, and propelling the hydrogen economy forward.”

The investment is in line with the MOL Group's SHAPE TOMORROW corporate strategy.

In the September/October print issue of Turbomachinery International, several experts, engineers, and OEMs addressed hydrogen’s role in the energy landscape, including supply and demand, opportunities, and obstacles. In part II of the three-part roundtable Q&A, the various obstacles that are preventing the large-scale implementation of hydrogen, including the costs of manufacturing hydrogen, transporting it to a power station, and providing large-scale storage at the site, were each addressed.

“Reasonably priced and affordable electrolyzers are the prerequisite for covering the growing demand and future hydrogen costs,” said Alex Habeder, Head of Business Strategy

Sustainable Energy Systems at Siemens Energy. “Furthermore, generating green hydrogen requires a significant and accelerated expansion of renewable energy worldwide. This expansion can only accelerate if permitting becomes faster and less complicated. Automated factories for electrolysis on an industrial scale (including the GW scale) must be constructed, and the pipeline and industrial-scale hydrogen storage infrastructure must be implemented for storing and transporting the hydrogen.