“This is a great day for us, and for the road to a zero-emission society. Our first customer’s container is already connected to the plant, ready to receive pressurized green hydrogen. Within a year, the plan is to produce 140 tons of green hydrogen for end customers and the Energy House test center to which the plant is connected,” says Thor Henrik W. Hagen, CEO of HYDS.
The plant at Stord is the first of several plants HYDS is building to be put into operation. In 2024, they will open one in Egersund, and more are under development.
For booking, go to Stord Hydrogen’s website.
– Look to Norway, look to the west and look to Stord!
Thor Henrik W. Hagen emphasizes the good local cooperation as a prerequisite for the opening of the facility.
– This would not have been possible without the access to key expertise from so many local partners that we have here locally.
He also highlighted the good support from Stord Municipality, in the plant’s official opening during the Energy House Day event.
The mayor of Stord, Gaute Straume Epland, performed the official opening by starting the plant’s production system with the click of a mouse. The mayor highlighted the collaboration as an important part of the municipality’s climate ambitions.
– “It is important for Stord Municipality to support the development of green industry, such as this hydrogen plant and the Energy House test center, in order for us to achieve our zero emission targets,” said Epland.
Danish electrolysis technology central to the plant
The Danish ambassador to Norway, Louise Bang Jespersen, visited the plant at Stord in connection with the opening. The electrolyser that produces the hydrogen in the HYDS plant is from the Danish electrolysis manufacturer Green Hydrogen Systems. It is the first Danish electrolyser in operation in Norway.
Jespersen was interested in how HYDS is using the technology to establish local, scalable hydrogen plants that can be replicated in different locations and energy access models. HYDS is currently developing several plants, but is looking abroad to establish more local hydrogen plants of the same type:
“A lot is happening in Denmark. For example, they are at the forefront of hydrogen storage. Since they are part of the EU, there are a number of incentives to develop the hydrogen market that we don’t have in Norway, so this is a possible area we are looking at. We’re now gaining good experience with this plant and the one we’re about to open in Egersund. This is experience we can take with us and copy for the construction and operation of more plants – in Denmark, but also in other countries,” says Hagen.