Orlen opens over 100 hydrogen refuelling stations in Central Eastern Europe
Orlen, the Polish oil refinery group, has scheduled a shift to hydrogen. It will open 102 refuelling stations in three Central Eastern European countries. The first installations will be launched in the Polish cities of Poznań and Katowice.
After launching two pilot hydrogen refueling stations in Germany, namely in Wolfsburg and Müllheim, the Polish oil refinery group PKN Orlen, simply known as Orlen, is planning to replicate this experience to Central Eastern Europe. To this end, it will launch the Hydrogen Eagle investment programme dedicated to the development of the network of hydrogen hubs and refuelling stations.
The project will cover three countries, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia. According to Orlen, the Hydrogen Eagle programme has successfully passed a review by Poland’s Ministry of Development, Labour and Technology in the competition for projects in hydrogen technologies and systems under the IPCEI mechanism. The next step will be to notify the support to the European Commission.
Programme details
Orlen’s hydrogen programme consists of two important items. The first one is to establish six new hubs for producing hydrogen. Two hubs will be located in Poland, two in Czechia and one in Slovakia. All the hubs will use renewable electricity that will be generated by the Baltic Power offshore wind farm and photovoltaics. The total capacity of the plants will ultimately amount around 250 megawatts. This will allow Orlen to produce up to 50,000 tonnes of hydrogen annually by 2030.
The second item of the Hydrogen Eagle programme is to open 102 refuelling stations in three countries: 54 in Poland, 22 in Czechia and 26 in Slovakia. They will be accessible for individual, public and freight transport. The first stations of this kind will be launched in the cities of Poznań and Katowice. Six hydrogen stations have been also scheduled to open in Czechia.