Vattenfall and Preem investigate large scale hydrogen decarbonisation

Vattenfall and Preem will now enter into a feasibility phase to assess the possibility of accelerating the development of a value chain connecting offshore wind and hydrogen with the refining industry on the Swedish west coast to swiftly transform to fossil-free fuels, starting latest 2030.

Preem and Vattenfall believe that in order to strengthen Sweden’s position as a frontrunner in the emerging markets of fossil-free fuels and materials, new partnerships between fossil-free energy suppliers and decarbonizing industries and innovative cooperations are needed.

On the Swedish west coast, there is a highly specialised refinery and petrochemicals industry, great potential for offshore wind power and a strong desire to transform throughout the region. With the recently announced plans by Swedish TSO (Svenska Kraftnät) to expand the transmission network to areas, like the Swedish west coast, within Sweden’s maritime territory, an important framework is set to realize such ambitions.

Preem is Sweden’s largest fuel company and has begun its transition from fossil fuels to a renewable and climate-neutral value chain in 2035. Fossil-free hydrogen enables both decarbonization of the refineries and increased production of renewable fuels such as HVO, renewable gasoline and sustainable aviation fuels. An increased supply of fossil-free hydrogen also enables Preem to explore the development of e-fuels for hard-to-decarbonise segments like aviation and maritime.

Anna Borg, President and CEO of Vattenfall, said, “For Vattenfall, the electrification of society and industry is at the core of our business strategy. Our strong and growing Swedish offshore wind development portfolio of currently more than 20 TWh offers ample opportunities. Therefore, Vattenfall has taken the initiative for this concept development on the west coast, where offshore wind and hydrogen production can play a key role, in the transformation to a fossil-free industry. Cross-sector cooperation and partnerships are the way forward.”

Magnus Heimburg, Preem CEO, said, “The society’s need for renewable fuels is increasing at high speed but the supply of necessary fossil-free hydrogen is still scarce. A new infrastructure for hydrogen from offshore wind could swiftly increase supply and speed up our transition towards a climate-neutral value chain and enable the production of 5 million cubic meters of renewable fuels and e-fuels no later than 2035. This can only be achieved if we work together and partner up.”