OMV has secured a significant funding package to support the development of its 140 MW green hydrogen facility in Austria. The world has become all too aware that the generational reliance on fossil fuel-based energy production needs to come to an end. To accelerate the energy transition, Austria is fostering a welcoming environment for the renewable energy market, with green hydrogen playing a vital role.
OMV’s Austrian green hydrogen venture is advancing this year
The overwhelming calls to diversify the global energy mix have reached a tipping point, as nations all over the world are attempting to meet their self-imposed clean energy and emission reduction targets by the end of the decade.
To fast-track the development of green hydrogen production in Europe, OMV has secured €123 million in public support to develop its latest 140 MW green hydrogen plant that will, once operational, boast an output capacity of over 23,000 tons of green hydrogen by the end of next year.
OMV and Austria Wirtschaftsservice have recently signed a funding deal to provide upwards of €123 million for OMV’s latest green hydrogen venture in Bruck an der Leitha. The project has been previously identified and recommended for funding by the European Hydrogen Bank. The landmark project will play a vital role in advancing Austria and OMV’s green hydrogen strategies.
“The positive assessment made by the European Hydrogen Bank and the resulting funding from the Austrian state for our green hydrogen plant is a strong signal for the future of sustainable energy supply and Austria as a location. With our project, we are setting a milestone for the energy transition in Europe and showing how OMV combines innovation and responsibility.” – Alfred Stern, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV
OMV’s green hydrogen plant will be one of the largest in Europe
OMV has noted that the project, once fully developed and operational, will be one of the five largest of its kind anywhere in Europe. The 140 MW green hydrogen facility is targeting completion in 2027, and could accelerate the nation’s clean energy transition.
Notably, the latest green hydrogen venture in Austria will produce up to 23,000 tons of green hydrogen every year using renewable energy resources to power operations on site. OMV has noted that by using clean energy to power the plant, it could avoid over 150,000 tons of carbon emissions annually.
“By generating green hydrogen locally, this plant with a 22-kilometer pipeline running directly to the OMV refinery in Schwechat will make a considerable contribution to our decarbonization,” – Martijn van Koten, OMV Executive Vice President, Fuels and Chemicals
In November of last year, OMV and Masdar signed an agreement to establish a new joint venture to advance the project. The aim of the new joint venture, according to OMV and Masdar, is to develop the new 140 electrolyser for green hydrogen production in Austria.
As energy companies outline investment plans for the hydrogen market, Austria and OMV are aiming to develop a new era of clean energy generation in the tiny European nation, which could transform the regional energy supply over the coming years and well into the new decade.
A new era of green hydrogen production has emerged
The never-ending, volatile nature of the global energy market has increased the need to diversify energy output across the entire energy sector across the globe. While Russia is targeting a new development in South Africa, Europe is ringing in the new year by advancing the latest green hydrogen project in Austria. If the global energy market is to successfully transition away from fossil fuel-based energy production, investments in renewable energy are going to become all too common over the coming years.
