Royal Dutch Shell plans to construct the first commercial bio-based power-to-liquid (PTL) at its Rheinland refinery in Germany. This project will also include scaling up its electrolyzer capacity at the site to 100 MW. Construction of the bio-PTL unit could start in 2023, with the first commercial production expected in 2025, Shell said. The bio-PTL unit will use green hydrogen and biomass (waste wood) to produce 100,000 tons/year of synthetic kerosene and naphtha. The hydrogen will be generated by the new electrolyzer.
Shell is currently working together with ITM Power and Linde to commission a 10 MW electrolysis unit at Rheinland refinery. This unit is set to be the largest polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer in Europe. Meanwhile, construction for the expanded electrolyzer project could start in 2022. Shell will partner with ITM and Linde again for the project. Shell has applied EU and German subsidies for both bio-PTL and electrolyzer projects.
In January, Shell joined Vattenfall and other companies for a proposed 100 MW electrolyzer at Hamburg-Moorburg. Shell also plans to build a large electrolyzer unit at the Port of Rotterdam that will run on wind-generated electricity. Last month, the company said it would acquire virtual power plant (VPP) operator Next Kraftwerke that managed more than 8 GW of renewable energy capacities across continental Europe.
