Danish decarbonisation solutions specialist Topsoe has confirmed the final investment decision (FID) for construction of what will be the world’s largest electrolyser manufacturing plant.
By constructing a manufacturing plant with a capacity of 500 MW (megawatts) per year, Topsoe hopes to meet one of the main challenges when it comes to the adoption of green hydrogen.
With an option to expand manufacturing capacity to 5 GW (gigawatts), the plant – located in Herning, Denmark - will be the world’s largest Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cell (SOEC) manufacturing plant, accelerating the energy transition.
Electrolysers use electricity to separate water into its constituent components of hydrogen and oxygen.
So-called ‘green’ hydrogen is produced if the electricity used is generated through renewable processes.
Stating that the company is facing the challenges head on, Roeland Baan, CEO, Topsoe, commented on the project, saying, “We are dedicated to taking the lead on scaling power-to-x technology to help drive the energy transition, and we are investing over DKK 2 billion (£270m) to meet this demand and address this fundamental supply weakness.”
As the ‘single biggest investment’ in the company’s history, Baan added that the facility will act as a catalyst for new investment in the future.
Topsoe was awarded up to DKK 80.3m ($11.3m) in public funding to scale up its Power-to-X solutions.
In May, the EU released REPowerEU – a proposal to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels before 2030 and fast forward to the green transition.
The proposal included a Joint Declaration by industry leaders and the Commission to increase European electrolyser manufacturing capacity tenfold by 2025.
By aiding in the delivery of these ambitions, Topsoe could help reduce emissions within Power-to-X and hard-to-abate sectors such as transport, chemicals, steel, and cement.
Heavy industry is responsible for around 22% of global CO2 emissions, 6.5% and 7% of which are contributed to through steel and cement production, respectively.
“With this new state of the art manufacturing facility, we are taking Power-to-X technology into a commercially competitive position, ultimately making the case for decarbonisation unarguable,” commented Sundus Cordelia Ramli, CCO, Power-to-X division, Topsoe.
Following the FID which was taken on 24th August, the company plans for construction to begin in the second of this year, to begin operations in 2024.
