Poland’s energy group PKN ORLEN will spend 7.4 billion zlotys [1.6 billion euros] by 2030 on low- and zero-carbon hydrogen development projects based on renewable energy sources and municipal waste conversion technology.
The ORLEN Group Hydrogen Strategy will be implemented in four key areas: mobility, refining and petrochemicals, research and development, and industry and energy. As a result, ten hydrogen hubs will be developed by the end of the decade, with motorists in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia provided with access to a network of over 100 hydrogen refueling stations. The projects will support the ORLEN Group’s transformation into a carbon-neutral multi-utility group.
“We need to maximize profits and dynamically grow our new business lines to drive our transformation into a multi-utility group,” said Daniel Obajtek, President of the PKN ORLEN Management Board. “This is the only way we can effectively respond to the challenges facing the fuel and energy sector. By 2030, we plan to invest over 7 billion zlotys in projects ensuring nearly half of the hydrogen produced by the ORLEN Group will be low- and zero-carbon. This would help us reduce CO2 emissions by 1.6 million tonnes.”
By the end of the decade, the ORLEN Group aims to install approximately 0.5 gigawatts (GW) of new hydrogen production capacity using renewable energy sources and municipal waste conversion. By using carbon storage and utilization technology, the Group will be able to lower the carbon intensity of a further 120 kt of hydrogen produced by its facilities in Płock. As a result of these projects, almost half of the hydrogen used by the ORLEN Group should come from zero- or low-carbon sources in 2030.
The Group deployed its first hydrogen hub in Trzebinia in 2021, which makes grey hydrogen for transport and is to ultimately produce low-carbon hydrogen from renewable energy sources. Another hub is being developed in Włocławek, which is due to start producing green hydrogen in the second half of 2023. Two years later, a hub in Płock will be launched to make green hydrogen for industrial and transport applications. The ORLEN Group has already taken steps to use hydrogen in urban public transport and rail transport by signing letters of intent to collaborate with 17 municipalities and four companies in Poland as potential customers for its hydrogen.