Topsoe Picks ABB, Fluor for Conceptual Development of Virginia Electrolyzer Plant

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--An electrolyzer factory planned for Virginia came a step closer to reality last week when Danish company Topsoe (Kongens Lyngby) appointed ABB (Zurich, Switzerland) and Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) (Irving, Texas) to develop a standardized plan for the new plant. Topsoe hopes the companies can learn from the construction of its inaugural electrolyzer plant in Denmark to develop processes that reduce construction costs and help the facility to operate more efficiently.

Topsoe's proposed plant in Chesterfield, Virginia, would manufacture solid state electrolyzer cells (SOEC). SOECs operate at much higher temperatures than the other common types of electrolyzers, alkaline and proton exchange membrane (PEM). Alkaline electrolyzers generally are the cheapest to build and operate, using a nickel catalyst, but are the least efficient type of electrolyzer. PEM electrolyzers generally use more expensive platinum-group metals as a catalyst but are more efficient, making them more cost-effective than alkaline electrolyzers when large volumes of hydrogen are produced.

The SOECs that Topsoe will manufacture are the most efficient type of electrolyzer, having a theoretical efficiency of hydrogen production reaching 90%. SOECs use high-temperature electrolysis to achieve these high efficiencies. The higher the operating temperature of the SOEC, the more efficiently it will operate.

The Virginia factory isn't the only SOEC plant in Topsoe's portfolio. Last year, the company began building its inaugural SOEC plant in Herning, Denmark. The 247,000-square-foot facility will manufacture 500 megawatts (MW) of electrolyzers per year and is expected to begin production later this year. Topsoe believes Fluor and ABB have the expertise to analyze the good and bad from the construction and design of the Denmark plant to make development and operations of the U.S. plant more efficient and less costly.

The U.S. plant is shaping up to be an even larger project than the Danish one (although an expansion of the Danish project may be in the works), resulting in a plant that will be able to produce 1 gigawatt of electrolyzers per year, double the amount of the Danish plant. However, construction of the U.S. plant isn't set in stone. Topsoe has yet to make a final investment decision, although Fluor and ABB could help to guide its final decision. The company already has a head start in funding, having secured $136 million from 2022's Inflation Reduction Act for the plant's construction, which will run an estimated $400 million. Should construction proceed, Topsoe is aiming for a 2028 startup date.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the project reports on the Danish and Virginia projects.

But Topsoe is about more than hydrogen. The company's technologies are being implemented in billions of dollars' worth of planned and underway projects throughout the world for products such as renewable diesel and green ammonia. In Bakersfield, California, for example, Global Clean Energy Holdings Incorporated (Bakersfield) is reviving a brownfield refinery previously owned by Delek US Holdings Incorporated (NYSE:DK) (Brentwood, Tennessee) to use Topsoe's HydroFlex technology to transform animal fats and other organic feedstocks into 15,000 barrels per day of renewable diesel. The facility is expected to be completed later this year. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Alternative Fuels Project Database can click here for more details on the project.

One of the biggest projects using Topsoe technology is underway in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (Duba, Saudi Arabia) is implementing Topsoe technology to produce green ammonia from green hydrogen. The ammonia unit is just one part of NEOM's massive undertaking, which includes more than 3,800 MW of wind and solar facilities to accompany a green hydrogen facility that will provide feedstock for the ammonia. The facility is expected to begin construction in 2026. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Chemical Processing Project Database can click here to learn more about the green ammonia unit.

Industrial Info also is tracking Topsoe technology being implemented in other countries, including Australia, China, the U.K. and others.

Other projects using Topsoe technology include a green ammonia unit at CF Industries Holdings Incorporated's complex in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, which will begin ramping up to 20,000 tons per of green ammonia production when it begins operations in the coming months. Click here for the project report.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).