Mol Group builds green hydrogen plant using Plug Power electrolysers

MOL Group (an international, integrated oil, gas, petrochemicals, and consumer retail company) has teamed up with Plug Power Inc. to build one of Europe’s largest-capacity green hydrogen production facilities at MOL’s Danube Refinery in Százhalombatta, Hungary.

Green hydrogen will reduce the carbon footprint of the Danube Refinery operation and enable emission-free mobility in the longer term.

Utilising a 10 MW electrolysis unit from Plug Power, MOL’s €22 million facility will be able to produce approximately 1,600 tons of clean, carbon-neutral, green hydrogen annually, removing up to 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide by displacing the currently used natural gas-based production process. As this process represents one-sixth of the carbon dioxide emissions of MOL Group, this investment supports MOL’s carbon neutrality goals and will contribute to energy independence for the region.

Once operational in 2023, MOL will use the green hydrogen in its Danube Refinery during fuel production of its own hydrogen system. It will be incorporated into the molecules of MOL fuels, lowering the carbon outputs from the production technology and the final product.

Green hydrogen production is an integral part of MOL’s updated SHAPE TOMORROW strategy, which focuses on sustainability and is completely harmonised with The European Green Deal. Within the framework of its strategy, the company will make a total investment of €1 billion into the low carbon circular economy through 2025. MOL will reduce the carbon footprint of its operations by 30% by 2030 and will spend 50% of investment expenditures on sustainable projects. MOL aims to implement a carbon-neutral operation by 2050.

Gabriel Szabó, Executive Vice President of Downstream at MOL Group, commented, “We are convinced that hydrogen is not only one of the most important energy carriers of the already ongoing energy transition, but it will be an essential factor in the new, carbon-neutral energy system as well. This new technology allows the introduction of green hydrogen production in Hungary, Százhalombatta, which makes MOL Group one of the most important players in the sustainable energy economy in the region.”

Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug, said, “Our opportunities seem limitless to support the trend to pull green hydrogen into more traditional industrial hydrogen markets throughout the world. We are pleased to provide our state-of-the-art electrolyser technology to MOL Group’s Danube Refinery and enable MOL Group to take a big step forward in addressing these issues for the region.”