Hungarian energy group MOL, the largest shareholder in Croatian oil and gas company INA, plans to build two green hydrogen plants – in Rijeka and Slovakia’s capital Bratislava, after it inaugurated such a plant in Szazhalombatta, Hungary.
– After Szazhalombatta, we will take the technology to the other two fuel production units of the group to make the fuel production process more sustainable at each of MOL Group’s refineries – MOL’s CEO Jozsef Molnar said at the inauguration ceremony last week, as cited in a press release issued by the Hungarian group.
MOL holds a 49.08% stake in INA which owns an oil refinery in Rijeka.
The green hydrogen plant in Szazhalombatta represents a 22-million-euro investment and is the largest one in central and eastern Europe, MOL said. The new technology will gradually replace the natural gas-based production process, which currently accounts for one-sixth of the MOL Group’s total carbon dioxide emissions.
The plant in Hungary will reduce the carbon footprint of the Danube Refinery in Szazhalombatta by more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and will start production in the second half of 2024. MOL will use green hydrogen primarily in its network for fuel production.