Romanian oil and gas producer OMV Petrom has received the first electrolyser module for a 20MW green hydrogen-based e-fuel production unit at its Petrobrazi refinery.

The 20MW PEM module is the first of four, which will produce up to 3,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year for 250,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel by 2028.

The units come from the German engineering firm Neuman & Esser, which uses 16 Bosch-made electrolyser stacks. Once operating, they will be partially powered by a 7MW solar farm at the Petrobrazi site, which OMV Petrom started building in February.

A subsidiary of Austrian refiner OMV, OMV Petrom says the remaining three modules will follow shortly.

Petrobrazi’s e-fuel program has seen €750m in investment from OMV Petrom, which plans to invest around €11bn ($12.7bn) by 2030 to support Romania’s energy transition.

In January 2024, it also received €50m in funding for the site’s green hydrogen components from Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, supported by the European Commission.

A further 35MW plant is planned for the site, bringing total green hydrogen production to 8,000 tonnes annually, and the potential for over 660,000 tonnes of e-fuel.

The timeline for the second system remains undisclosed.