Shell to build renewable hydrogen electrolyser in Germany

(Reuters) - Shell said on Thursday it will build a 100-megawatt renewable hydrogen electrolyser in Germany, the company's second unit in Europe, which will help it reduce carbon emissions at its refineries.

The Refhyne II electrolyser at the Rheinland refinery is scheduled to begin operating in 2027 and produce up to 44,000 kilograms per day of renewable hydrogen to partially decarbonise site operations, the company said.

In the longer term, renewable hydrogen from the project could be directly supplied to help lower industrial emissions in the region as customer demand evolves, Shell said in a statement.

In the Netherlands, Shell is currently constructing Holland Hydrogen I project with a capacity of 200 megawatts, one of Europe's largest renewable hydrogen plants under construction.

The final investment decision to progress with Refhyne II comes after a number of low-carbon projects suffered setbacks under the leadership of CEO Wael Sawan.

Since Sawan took office in January 2023, Shell has scrapped and sold renewable and hydrogen projects, retreated from European and Chinese power markets, and sold refineries, vowing to focus on the most profitable operations, primarily oil and gas, in a push to improve profit.

The British company plans to invest $10 billion to $15 billion in 2023-2025 to support the development of low-carbon energy.

In 2023, the company invested $5.6 billion in low-carbon energy, around 23% of overall capital spending. (This story has been corrected to say that the company invested 23% of overall capital spending, not that 23% of the investment was capital spending, in paragraph 8)

(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru and Ron Bousso in London; editing by Jason Neely and David Evans)