Shell Gas & Power Developments B.V. and Uniper Hydrogen GmbH signed an MOU to explore accelerating the development of a hydrogen economy in Europe. Under the MOU they intend to find joint opportunities to couple industrial and mobility demand with hydrogen supply, production and storage.

In addition, the companies plan to explore future options including infrastructure for large-scale transport of hydrogen and CO₂ from the ports of Rotterdam and Wilhelmshaven to North Rhine Westphalia (NRW).

Among the projects considered will be Shell’s Rheinland transformation where work is ongoing to transform an existing refining asset into an energy and chemicals park; Shell officially opened a 10 MW PEM electrolyzer, the largest of its kind in Europe on July 2, and is working with partners to expand the capacity to 100 MW.

Uniper will further explore the supply of hydrogen from the existing Uniper production sites at Rotterdam and Wilhelmshaven to the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland locations at Wesseling and Godorf. In addition, Uniper intends to connect its power plant in Gelsenkirchen Scholven as well as some large-scale customers with its coastal hydrogen production plants.

The companies will also assess the opportunity to develop potential synergies to accelerate existing projects in Germany, the Netherlands and potentially other European countries. Taking a full value chain approach, Shell and Uniper will work backwards from customer demand to identify key opportunities to develop the foundation of a new hydrogen economy in Europe.

"Our mission is to connect Uniper’s large scale hydrogen projects - e.g. in the Netherlands and in Northern Germany - with industrial customers to enable a decarbonization of our economy," said Axel Wietfeld, Uniper Hydrogen CEO. "By way of hydrogen, Uniper provides a CO₂-free solution of how to transport the abundant renewable electricity from coastal regions and from offshore wind farms to the inland."

The MOU reflects Shell’s Powering Progress strategy and target to reach net zero emissions by 2050, in step with society, and will support Uniper’s ambition to become carbon-neutral in Europe by 2035.