The pilot project demonstrates the viability of renewable hydrogen in reducing the use of fossil hydrogen in the refining industry. Replacing hydrogen produced from fossil raw materials with renewable hydrogen is one of the key means to lower greenhouse gas emissions in refining. As a next step in the demonstration project, a test program will validate the technology's performance characteristics.
MultiPLHY is a demonstration project with consortium partners Neste, Sunfire, CEA, and ENGIE. The high-temperature electrolyser is provided by the German electrolyser manufacturer Sunfire and the hydrogen processing unit (HPU) by SMS group. Neste is responsible for the refinery integration and together with Sunfire oversees the operation of the unit. The research and technology organisation CEA coordinates the project, and ENGIE is in charge of techno-economic assessment.
“The MultiPLHY project has given Neste valuable insights and experience in integrating industrial-scale renewable hydrogen production into our refinery” said Jukka Kanerva, Senior Vice President, Renewable Refining at Neste. “We remain committed to exploring different pathways to replace fossil-based hydrogen in our refining processes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our own operations. This demonstration project also shows the importance of cooperation across the whole value chain.”
The electrolyser integrated into Neste's refinery processes is based on the SOEC (Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell) technology by Sunfire. It consists of twelve electrolysis modules, which together make up the world’s largest high-temperature electrolyser (2.6 MW) installed in an industrial environment. The system operates at high temperatures of 850 °C and produces more than 60 kg of renewable hydrogen per hour. Due to the utilization of heat, the high-temperature electrolyser requires significantly less electricity to produce renewable hydrogen compared to other solutions on the market, leading therefore to a much higher efficiency of up to 84 percent LHV,AC.
“Thanks to their unrivaled efficiency, our high-temperature SOEC electrolysers will be the preferred solution in many applications where waste heat is available” added Nils Aldag, CEO of Sunfire. “The MultiPLHY project demonstrates that the innovative technology can be integrated into industrial environments at a large scale. We are proud of this big milestone.”
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