HOLBORN Europa Raffinerie and Hamburger Energienetze signed a contract Hydrogen for HVO diesel and low-carbon aviation fuel

A new major customer on Hamburg’s hydrogen industry network, HH-WIN: At the Hydrogen Technology World Expo in Hamburg , HOLBORN Europa Raffinerie and Hamburger Energienetze signed a contract for the planning of a connection to the hydrogen network. The signing took place in the presence of Dr Peter Tschentscher, First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. From 2028, the connection facility is set to supply the GDP (Green Diesel Production) complex currently under construction at the Harburg refinery site.

Lars Bergmann, Managing Director of HOLBORN Europa Raffinerie: “For us, HH-WIN offers a clear locational advantage thanks to the rapid availability of low-carbon hydrogen. We are delighted to be able to rapidly roll out our HVO and SAF production here, thereby helping to reduce our dependence on crude oil and to produce fuels in line with the sustainability criteria of the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED III).”

Dr Peter Wolffram, Managing Director for Business and Customers at Hamburger Energienetze: “We are delighted to be able to connect the HOLBORN Europa Refinery – a major consumer of HH-WIN – at such an early stage of Hamburg’s emerging hydrogen economy. Our hydrogen network will thus be able to transport significant volumes just a few months after it begins operations in autumn 2027. Its use as a raw material underlines that hydrogen is far more than just a climate-friendly substitute for natural gas.”

 

Large-scale production of low-carbon fuels

The HOLBORN Europa Refinery in Hamburg-Harburg reliably supplies the north with fuels, heating products and raw materials for the chemical industry. At its GDP (Green Diesel Production) complex on the refinery site, the company plans to produce around 220,000 tonnes of HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) and SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) per year in future, using waste cooking oils and other biogenic by-products. To do this, HOLBORN uses hydrogen in a process known as hydrotreating to convert these raw materials into fuels. Compared with fossil diesel, HVO produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions in road transport. SAF also reduces greenhouse gas emissions in air transport compared with fossil kerosene. With the planned production volume, up to 800,000 tonnes of CO₂ can be saved annually in the transport sector in future.

Hydrogen plays a key role in the production of these fuels: in a process known as hydrotreating, hydrogen is introduced into fatty waste and residual materials under high temperature and high pressure. The gas breaks bonds and removes oxygen compounds from the starting materials to produce pure hydrocarbon chains. These largely correspond to the chains found in fossil diesel and kerosene. The HOLBORN Europa Raffinerie will thus produce high-quality, climate-friendly fuels that can be used without any problems in conventional diesel engines and aircraft turbines, whilst at the same time sustainably reducing their CO₂ emissions.

High-capacity connection facility in the planning stage

To supply the necessary quantities of hydrogen to HOLBORN, Hamburg’s energy networks are now designing a connection facility with a continuous output of 35.4 megawatts of hydrogen energy; however, up to 62 megawatts can also be drawn during peak demand periods. These figures correspond to the output of a gas turbine power station capable of supplying a town with 70,000 inhabitants. The gas pressure regulation and metering plant to be built is to be constructed directly on the refinery site and will be connected directly to a main pipeline of the Hamburg Hydrogen Industry Network (HH-WIN) running between Hamburg-Moorburg and Harburg.