RWE, TotalEnergies Sign Long-Term Green Hydrogen Supply Deal
March 12, 2025
TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with the German developer RWE to supply 30,000 tons a year of green hydrogen to the German Leuna refinery for 15 years, beginning in 2030.
The green hydrogen will be produced by a 300 MW electrolyzer, built and operated by RWE in Lingen.
Green hydrogen storage will be provided locally. The green hydrogen will be delivered by a 600 km pipeline to the gates of the refinery and will prevent the site’s emission of some 300,000 tons of CO2 beginning in 2030.
This is the largest quantity of green hydrogen ever contracted from an electrolyzer in Germany.
RWE operates its electrolysers with electricity from renewable energy sources. Under EU law, these electrolysers may only be operated with renewable electricity generated in the same hour as the hydrogen.
In order to be able to reliably supply the contractually agreed hydrogen even at times when there is little sun and wind, RWE Generation will use booked capacities of the hydrogen storage facility in Gronau-Epe.
A subsidiary of RWE, RWE Gas Storage West, plans to put this facility into operation in 2027.
Refineries already use large quantities of hydrogen today. This mainly comes from fossil natural gas, which causes high CO₂ emissions.
In Germany, fuel suppliers are encouraged to gradually reduce the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG quota) generated by their fuels, for example by 25% by 2030.The use of green hydrogen is one way for refineries to prevent CO2 emissions and thus meet their GHG quota.
“We are looking forward to developing further our partnership with RWE, our partner in several offshore wind projects in Germany and the Netherlands.
“This long-term contract for green hydrogen marks an important milestone to reducing our CO2 emissions at our Leuna refinery. It will be made possible thanks to the completion of the H2 backbone by German authorities and their efficient support to green H2 customers like our Leuna refinery,” said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.
“We are proud to have secured the first long-term offtake agreement for green hydrogen of this size with TotalEnergies in Germany.
“Six months after the investment decision for the construction of the 300-megawatt electrolysis plant in Lingen, we have acquired an important anchor customer in TotalEnergies. This shows that hydrogen works with the right incentives for customers,” added Markus Krebber, Chief Executive Officer of RWE.
