TotalEnergies announced on Friday that it had signed an agreement with Air Products to supply its refineries in Northern Europe with 70,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen produced by the American group, for a period of 15 years, starting in 2030.

This is the first long-term contract signed as part of a massive call for tenders launched at the end of 2023 by TotalEnergies, which is targeting 500,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen to contribute to the decarbonization objective of its European refineries.

"As part of this agreement, Air Products will deliver green hydrogen from its global network to TotalEnergies' refineries in Northern Europe. This hydrogen will make it possible to avoid the emission of around 700,000 tonnes of CO2 per year", said TotalEnergies in a press release.

The Group, which has six refineries and two biorefineries in Europe, is aiming for a 40% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions directly linked to its oil and gas operations (known as "scope 1+2") in 2030 compared with 2015.

Green hydrogen, derived from renewable energies, is intended to replace the "grey" hydrogen (i.e. produced from fossil fuels) currently used by refineries to remove the sulfur contained in oil during fuel refining.

At the same time, TotalEnergies and Air Products have signed a global memorandum of understanding for the supply of renewable energy, which includes the signature of a first power sales agreement (PPA) for 150 megawatts produced by a solar project in Texas.

(Written by Benjamin Mallet; edited by Blandine Hénault)