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Green hydrogen and solar power planned for Finnish refinery
6/12/2023
News
Neste has secured funding for its planned green hydrogen project at the Porvoo refinery in Finland, where it is also looking to add solar to its mix of renewable electricity supplies.
Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has granted Neste nearly €2mn ($2mn) of energy investment aid for heat recovery from the green hydrogen production being planned for the Porvoo refinery. The goal of the project, which is in the basic engineering phase, is to build a 120 MW electrolyser that produces green hydrogen for the refinery’s processes. In addition to green hydrogen, the production process will also generate heat that could be recovered for use by local business and industry.
Additional aid has also been granted under Finland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan to the regional Finnish energy company Porvoon Energia, which together with Neste, is undertaking a joint study on heat recovery and utilisation in the City of Porvoo’s district heating network.
Meanwhile, Neste has also signed a purchase agreement for solar power supply to its Porvoo refinery with the renewable energy company CPC Finland.
Power will be supplied from the Lakari solar plant in Rauma, Finland, from spring 2024. Once commissioned, Lakari will be the largest operating solar plant in Finland, reports Neste. Some 24 GWh per year of supply has been contracted, representing 75% of Lakari’s annual capacity.
‘Neste’s agreement on solar power is a valuable addition to our existing wind power and hydropower agreements. The agreed annual volume corresponds to some 2% of the annual electricity consumption at our Porvoo refinery,’ notes Markku Korvenranta, Executive Vice President for Oil Products business unit at Neste.
Porvoo refinery has used 100% renewable electricity since the beginning of 2022. Demand is expected to increase over the coming years as the refinery is further developed.
Neste reports it is looking to reduce the carbon footprint of its production operations, with the aim of becoming carbon neutral by 2035. It also reports that it is committed to reducing customers’ greenhouse gas emissions with its renewable and circular solutions by at least 20mn tCO2e/y, and reduce phase emission intensity of sold products by 50% by 2040, as well as working with its suppliers and partners to reduce emissions across the entire value chain (under Scope 3 emissions).
