Australian green energy company Provaris is collaborating with Norwegian Hydrogen in developing Norway’s largest production facility for green hydrogen, a large-scale project that will effectively meet both local demand for hydrogen and allow for flexible delivery of demanded green energy to Europe.
The green hydrogen plant will be located at Ørskog in Ålesund municipality and will have a capacity of 270 MW when it is fully developed, with a production capacity of 40,000t of green hydrogen annually. A capacity of 20MW has already been granted, and an application for a further 250MW capacity is being processed.
Jens Berge, CEO Norwegian Hydrogen said: “This is an important milestone for the development of large-scale production of green hydrogen in Norway and we look forward to being part of developing a new forward-looking industry. It is also particularly exciting that this project is home in Sunnmøre. From Ørskog, a large volume of green hydrogen will be exported to Europe, and part of the production capacity will cover the demand from customers in Norway.”
The hydrogen produced by the plant can reduce CO2 emissions by over 500,000 tonnes annually. Production of green hydrogen will contribute to emission-free energy and for use in the maritime and other industries. Provaris Energy has developed a solution for storing and transporting compressed hydrogen by ship.
Martin Carolan, CEO Provaris Energy said: “Provaris is pleased to collaborate with Norwegian Hydrogen in developing Norway’s largest production facility for green hydrogen. This is a large-scale project that will effectively meet both local demand for hydrogen and allow for flexible delivery of demanded green energy to Europe. The efficiency of our supply chain, based on compression, allows a flexible production, storage and transport solution that allows this to become a competitive project in the green shift.”
Norway has ambitious targets for the production of hydrogen and wants to become a net-zero emissions country by 2050. Green hydrogen is highlighted as one of the most important factors that must be in place to achieve this. Norwegian Hydrogen has already done thorough preparatory work over a long period of time, and is now entering a targeted and concrete process together with partners and authorities for detailed planning and regulatory work for the area.
Berge said: “Green hydrogen will be a key component in the transition to a zero-emission society, and we are happy to be part of this. We have a good dialogue with the local population and we experience Ålesund municipality as supportive and constructive. There will be great value created here, both for us and the business community in the region as a whole, and our contribution to reducing global emissions to such a significant extent is just as important.”
