Decarbonizing refining: Total launches call for tenders to supply 500,000 tpy of green hydrogen

As part of the drive to decarbonize its European refineries, Total Energies launched Sept. 14 a call for tenders for the supply of 500,000 tons per year (tpy) of green hydrogen.

The use of green hydrogen should avoid the emission of around 5 million tpy of CO2 from the company’s European refineries by 2030.

Total Energies has six refineries in Europe—Antwerp (Belgium), Leuna (Germany), Zeeland (Netherlands), Normandy, Donges and Feyzin (France)—as well as two biorefineries in La Mède and Grandpuits (France), all of which use hydrogen.

The company wants to replace 500,000 tpy of this hydrogen consumed in its refineries with green hydrogen produced with renewable energies by 2030.

This is a major step towards achieving Total Energies’ objective of reducing the net greenhouse-gas emissions directly linked to its oil and gas operations (scopes 1 and 2) by 40 percent by 2030 compared to 2015 levels.

“This massive call for tenders is fully aligned with Total Energies’ ambition to decarbonize all of the hydrogen used in its European refineries by 2030,” said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of Total Energies. “Alongside other green and low-carbon hydrogen production projects that the company is already undertaking at La Mède, Grandpuits, Leuna and Normandy, we are now approaching third-party providers to supply us with green hydrogen to accelerate the decarbonization of our operations. As a consequence, by offering to various worldwide suppliers the opportunity to secure medium- and long-term contracts with Total Energies, we trust we will benefit from the most competitive solutions they have developed.”

Total Energies stated that it is committed to reducing the carbon footprint of producing, converting and supplying energy to its customers.

One of the levers identified by the company is to use green or low-carbon hydrogen to decarbonize its European refineries, a move that should help reduce its CO2 emissions by around 5 million tpy by 2030.

In addition to this call for tenders, hydrogen-related projects have already been announced at:

• La Mède: The Masshylia project to produce green hydrogen for the biorefinery’s needs is in progress in partnership with Engie

• Grandpuits: In November, Total Energies and Air Liquide signed a partnership agreement to develop an innovative, circular system for producing 20,000 tpy of hydrogen that is partly renewable thanks to the recycling of residual biogas from the biorefinery

• Leuna: In June, Total Energies and VNG, a German natural-gas distribution company, signed an agreement for the future supply of green hydrogen to the Leuna refinery

• Normandy: In September, Total Energies and Air Liquide signed an agreement for the future supply of up to 15,000 tpy of green and low-carbon hydrogen to the Total Energies complex in Normandy