Austria’s Largest Electrolysis Plant: OMV and Kommunalkredit Investing in Green Hydrogen
OMV, the integrated, international oil, gas and chemicals company headquartered in Vienna, and Kommunalkredit Austria AG (Kommunalkredit) announced a joint investment in the construction of Austria’s largest electrolysis plant in the OMV Schwechat Refinery. Total investment will be around EUR 25 mn, with OMV and Kommunalkredit each bearing half the cost. The plant is expected to go live in the second half of 2023.
From this point, the 10 MW PEM (polymer electrolyte membrane) electrolysis will produce up to 1,500 metric tons of green hydrogen a year. The green hydrogen will be used to hydrogenate bio-based and fossil fuels, substituting grey hydrogen in the refinery. This would reduce OMV’s carbon footprint by up to 15,000 metric tons of fossil CO2 annually, and enables by using green hydrogen more than 17 million CO2 emission free bus or truck kilometers each year.
“By building Austria’s largest electrolysis plant in the OMV Schwechat Refinery, we are making another contribution to reducing CO2 and to meeting climate targets, whereby hydrogen is a key technology. We deliberately opted for green hydrogen production on an industrial scale as we see the potential it holds – for lower-carbon road use as well as for reducing CO2 emissions in industrial operations,” said Thomas Gangl, OMV Chief Downstream Operations Officer.
OMV laid out its ambitious climate targets back in July 2020. These include reaching net-zero emissions in operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 2050 or sooner. OMV will achieve net zero through energy-efficiency measures, new technologies such as carbon capture and storage or carbon capture and utilization, hydrogen, renewables (like the photovoltaic plant in Austria), and measures to optimize the portfolio. The successful and economic feasible implementation of these sustainable and innovative technologies will require an incentive system that extends beyond Austrian and European legislation.
Promoting the EU’s Green Deal, the energy transition and sustainable infrastructure and energy financing, Kommunalkredit is focused on advancing innovative technologies in its Austrian home market to address major challenges such as economic growth, job creation, and climate-protection measures.
“This project is a milestone in Austria’s industrial policy under the EU Green Deal. We take our responsibility towards society seriously, to contribute to measures that help to prevent climate change. As a member of the ‘European Clean Hydrogen Alliance’, we are backing our words with actions, supporting the construction of the electrolysis plant with green financing, and thereby making an important contribution, together with OMV, to the United Nations’ SDGs,” said Bernd Fislage, CEO of Kommunalkredit Austria AG.
The project is supported by the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund and is part of the Hydrogen Initiative Energy Model Region Austria Power & Gas (WIVA P&G).
About OMV Aktiengesellschaft
OMV produces and markets oil and gas, as well as chemical solutions in a responsible way and develops innovative solutions for a circular economy. With Group sales revenues of EUR 17 bn and a workforce of around 25,000 employees in 2020 (incl. Borealis), OMV is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Central and Eastern Europe as well as a balanced international portfolio, with Middle East & Africa, the North Sea, Russia and Asia-Pacific as further core regions. Daily average production was 463,000 boe/d in 2020. In Downstream, OMV operates three refineries in Europe and owns a 15% share in ADNOC Refining and ADNOC Global Trading, with a total annual processing capacity of 24.9 mn tons. Furthermore, OMV operates about 2,100 filling stations in ten European countries and runs gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany. In 2020, total natural gas sales volumes amounted to around 164 TWh.
In the chemicals sector, OMV, through its subsidiary Borealis, is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions and a European market leader in base chemicals, fertilizers and the mechanical recycling of plastics. Borealis operates in over 120 countries. In 2020, Borealis generated EUR 6.8 billion in sales revenue. The company supplies services and products to customers around the globe through Borealis and two important joint ventures: Borouge (with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, or ADNOC, based in UAE); and Baystar™ (with Total, based in the US).
Sustainability is an integral part of OMV’s corporate strategy. OMV supports the transition to a lower-carbon economy and has set measurable targets for reducing carbon intensity.
About Kommunalkredit
Kommunalkredit is a specialist for infrastructure and energy financing. Together with its customers as partners, the bank creates value that continuously improves people’s lives. In doing so, it facilitates the construction and operation of infrastructure facilities by balancing the financing needs of project sponsors and developers with the growing number of investors looking for sustainable investment opportunities. Main investment segments are Energy & Environment I Communications & Digitalisation I Transportation I Social Infrastructure I Natural Resources.
The bank offers a comprehensive product range covering everything from financial advisory services to structuring, arranging and providing borrowed capital and subordinated capital, as well as asset management via the Fidelio KA Infrastructure debt fund platform.
