Although the Schwedt refinery has not yet been derusified, the German government is drawing up plans to produce hydrogen there. This may be the key to the success of Poland’s PKN Orlen, if it actually wants to take over the plant’s shares.
The Schwedt refinery (CPK) announced on May 8 that it will invest 15 billion euros in the plant’s energy transition. The project is called HyPE+. It was developed with a local company Enertrag , which is engaged in the production of RES and seeks orders in the field of hydrogen management. HyPE+ is to maximize the usage of hydrogen at the refinery.
Presently the refinery wants to develop hydrogen energy capabilities using grey hydrogen, of which it has a lot due to the production of diesel oils and other substances. It could replenish the currently missing capacities with an electrolyser. In the coming years, electrolysers with a capacity of 32 MW are to be built at PCK, and another 96 MW is to be added later. After 2027, PCK is expected to be ready to install 300 MW of green hydrogen production capacity. In 2030, the capacity could increase to 600 MW. In the future the PCK refinery wants to supply the local industry and district heating with hydrogen, and possibly even provide the gas to the Eisenhüttenstadt smelter, which wants to start producing green steel by 2050.
During the presentation of the HyPE+ project, the role of Poland was mentioned several times. Firstly, Poland was mentioned as an area from which it will be possible to get renewable energy for electrolysis and hydrogen production. Then, at the stage of hydrogen distribution the speakers talked about new hydrogen pipelines. The EUGAL gas connection (intended to be a branch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline – ed.) is also to be adapted for the transport of hydrogen. This gas pipeline network is connected to the Polish side.
Deutsche Welle asked whether Poland’s Gaz-System knew about the refinery’s plans and whether Orlen, which is the third largest producer of grey hydrogen, would hand over its Polish market to the German refinery. „Renewable energy and the electricity generated from it from Poland can certainly also be a source for PCK. It can be picked up across the border here in the European electricity network for this specific purpose. But there is no question of exporting hydrogen. At the moment, we have designed the basic structure, at the level of the transmission network in Germany,” the Brandenburg Economy Minister Jörg Steinbach said.
Steinbach also spoke of two or three investors interested in the refinery, which is now 54 percent owned by Russia’s Rosneft, which was placed under a government trust after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Germany has the legal capacity to expropriate Rosneft. Poland insists on this step. One of the potential investors to replace the Russians is Poland’s Orlen. Steinbach noted that Germany would choose a partner that had not only the will but also the strength to take on the HyPE+project. The Minister did not want to make any public statements regarding the potential new owners of the Schwedt refinery.
Deutsche Welle / Aleksandra Fedorska