MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eni and electricity utility company Enel say they will develop two green hydrogen pilot schemes aimed at supplying a pair of Eni’s refineries in Italy, said Chemweek.
The hydrogen will be produced using 10-megawatt (MW) electrolyzers powered by renewable energy, with both projects expected to start producing green hydrogen by 2022-2023, according to the Rome-based companies. Eni says the electrolyzers will be located near two of its refineries “where green hydrogen appears to be the best decarbonization option.” It did not specify which sites or the level of investment.
"This partnership in green hydrogen is part of Eni’s broader energy transition strategy. Our goal is to accelerate the reduction of our carbon footprint by implementing the best applicable low carbon solution, either green or blue, to reduce our direct emissions as well as switching to bio products to supply our clients," says Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi.
A closed loop system is planned, with the electrolyzers powered by renewable energy, with the refineries in the same locations, which will avoid “the construction of complex transport infrastructure to move hydrogen around,” says Enel CEO Francesco Starace. “We are looking forward to seeing green hydrogen supplying Eni’s refinery and biorefinery processes, and are working to have the first operating system in place before the end of our current three-year plan," he says.
Enel Group is also developing green hydrogen projects in Spain, Chile, and the US, with plans to expand its capacity to over 2 gigawatts by 2030, it says. Eni is studying other renewable hydrogen projects in Italy and the UK, where on 4 December it announced it had acquired a 20% stake in the UK’s ?6.0-billion (USD7.98-billion) Dogger Bank offshore wind development. The project will add 480 MW of renewable energy to Eni’s 2025 target of 5 GW of installed capacity from renewable sources.
As MRC reported earlier, in September 2020, Italy’s Eni proposed building bio-refineries in Abu Dhabi, according to the energy group’s chief executive Claudio Descalzi. The Italian oil major has been focusing on developing new clean technologies in recent years as it steps up preparations for a decarbonized future.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,594,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2020, up by 1% year on year. Only high density polyethylene (HDPE) shipments increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 880,130 tonnes in the nine months of 2020 (calculated using the formula: production minus exports plus imports, excluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
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