In Belgium, the European Commission said it has approved funds for a total of $174.7 million to support LOTOS Green H2, a Polish special purpose vehicle ultimately owned by PKN Orlen, in the production of renewable hydrogen to be used in the refinery production processes. Poland had notified to the commission its plan to support LOTOS’s Green H2 project to produce renewable hydrogen through water electrolysis instead of through steam methane reforming using natural gas. This renewable hydrogen will be used in the fuel production processes in PKN Orlen’s refinery in Gdańsk. The aid, which will take the form of a direct grant, will support the installation of an electrolyzer with a capacity of 100 MW, as well as the construction of 50 MW photovoltaic power plant and 20 MWh battery storage. The electrolyzer is expected to start operating as of 2027 and to gradually increase its production up to 13,600 tons of renewable hydrogen per year. Once completed, the project is expected to avoid the release of a total of 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide over the project lifetime.
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