Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG), a provider of turnkey hydrogen solutions for the global green hydrogen economy, has won three five-megawatt (MW) electrolyzer projects with Ardagh Glass Limmared AB, Hydro Havrand and the APEX Group for the first large-scale use of green hydrogen in glass manufacturing, aluminum recycling and steelmaking processes. Plug is the only company today to offer 5 MW PEM cells in a standardized container. This turnkey system, with a production capacity of over two tons per day, reduces on-site construction costs and implementation complexity.
Green glass manufacturing and aluminum recycling
Located east of Gothenburg, Sweden, Ardagh Glass Limmared AB is the only producer of glass packaging in the Nordic countries and a supplier to Sweden’s most popular spirits company. Dedicated to sustainable packaging solutions, Ardagh will produce 2.1 metric tons per day (MTD) of green hydrogen by the end of the year, replacing some of the natural gas used today while reducing the plant’s overall carbon emissions. Ardagh will use hydroelectric power to generate hydrogen from the Plug electrolyzer.
Hydro Havrand, a new unit of aluminum giant Norsk Hydro ASA, is on a mission to decarbonize heavy industry with green hydrogen. To create a closed-loop circular economy for its aluminum recycling plant in Hoyanger, Norway, Hydro will use a 5 MW electrolyzer module from Plug by June 2024. The electrolyzer will replace the natural gas used in the plant’s burner with 2.1 metric tons per day of green hydrogen. Norsk Hydro, the parent company, has extensive expertise in electrolysis dating back to the 1950s.
Green steel
In Bremen, Germany, Plug and its trusted partner, the APEX Group, an integrator with strong project execution expertise, will demonstrate for the first time the feasibility of producing green steel by decarbonizing ArcelorMittal’s blast furnaces. Plug will deliver two 5 MW electrolyzer modules with the capacity to produce 4.2 metric tons per day of green hydrogen to SWB, the city’s utility company, by the end of this year. The long-term goal is the complete decarbonization of the steel industry in northern Germany and the rest of Europe.
By 2030, the European Union plans to produce 10 million metric tons of green hydrogen per year to decarbonize European industries and the mobility sector. The deployment of Plug electrolysers will contribute to this decarbonization roadmap. In April 2023, Plug announced record production of its PEM electrolyzer cells in the first quarter of 2023, with 122 MW of cells manufactured and nearly 1,000 cells totaling 5.7 MW shipped for specialty applications.
