Posted on February 20, 2025
TotalEnergies SE and Air Liquide SA plan a €600 million ($628 million) joint venture to produce green hydrogen for the French oil giant’s refinery in the Netherlands, along with a supply deal for its petrochemical plant in Belgium.
The two companies aim to build a 250-megawatt electrolyzer powered by wind energy near the Zeeland refinery, Total said in a statement Tuesday. Separately, Total also agreed to buy green hydrogen for its Antwerp facility from a 200-megawatt electrolyzer that Air Liquide plans to build near Rotterdam.
Total’s continued drive to reduce emissions at its refineries with low-carbon hydrogen, following other recent deals with Air Liquide and Air Products & Chemicals Inc., contrasts with a more cautious approach from its peers.
“The partnership with Air Liquide takes on a new dimension and marks a new step in TotalEnergies’ ambition to decarbonize the hydrogen consumed by its refineries in Europe by 2030,” said Vincent Stoquart, President, Refining & Chemicals at TotalEnergies said in the statement.
The joint project near the Zeeland refinery is expected to be commissioned in 2029, and the one that will supply the Antwerp plant should start operating by the end of 2027, Total said. A final investment decision still hasn’t been reached.
Thanks to its existing hydrogen pipeline network, Air Liquide will also be able to serve other Dutch and Belgian customers, the French industrial gas company said in a separate statement.
Under the agreement, Total will supply the two electrolyzers with power from an offshore wind project in the Netherlands, while Air Liquide will also buy clean power from a Vattenfall wind farm off the Dutch coast.
Upon completion, the two projects would represent a combined investment of more than €1 billion, and avoid annual emissions equivalent to as much as 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide, Air Liquide said. The company plans to use electrolyzer technologies from its joint venture with Siemens Energy AG.
