Oil refinery to produce 55MW of green hydrogen for sustainable aviation fuel after €50m grant from EU funds
Romanian oil company OMV Petrom is to build 55MW of green hydrogen projects — to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) — at its Petrobrazi refinery, 60km north of Bucharest, after receiving €50m ($54.3m) from the country’s EU-sponsored post-Covid recovery fund.
The money will be used to install two electrolysers — with 35MW and 20MW of capacity — at the plant, with the renewable H2 being used to produce bio-based SAF and biodiesel.
Hydrogen is required during the SAF production process, and the H2 needs to be green to produce truly “sustainable” aviation fuel.
“The entire production process [at Petrobrazi] will be powered by renewable energy, therefore carbon-free, allowing the hydrogen obtained to be classified as green hydrogen,” said OMV Petrom, offering no further detail on where the clean electricity will come from.
“Integrating green hydrogen into the production process of green fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel and biodiesel, will lead to a CO2 emission reduction of minimum 70% compared to conventional fuels,” it added.
“The projects are currently in the engineering phase, aiming to reach final investment decision in 2024.”
Article continues below the advert
OMV Petrom — which is majority-owned by Austria’s OMV — says the total investment cost of the project will be €140m. The €50m grant comes from the Romanian government’s €28.5bn National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which receives its capital from the EU’s €750bn NextGenerationEU Fund (a mixture of grants and loans).
“We are proud to be among the first green hydrogen producers in Romania,” said Radu Căprău, member of OMV Petrom’s executive board. “Green hydrogen, produced from renewable energy sources, is a viable solution for a low-carbon future. By developing these projects at Petrobrazi, we are taking important steps towards sustainable refining activity.”
Company CEO Christina Verchere added: “Through our Strategy 2030, we committed to support the energy transition in Romania and the region, with investments of around EUR 11 billion by the end of this decade, of which approximately 35% will support low- and zero-carbon projects. We have made great strides in renewables and electro-mobility projects, and with this project we are adding hydrogen to our portfolio of low carbon projects.”
