(Vienna / Austria) – The oil and gas company OMV AG plans to build a 140-megawatt electrolysis plant in Bruck an der Leitha, Lower Austria – currently, according to the company, “one of the largest in Europe.” The company has now made the final investment decision.
Hydrogen for use in refineries
The plant will produce 23.000 tons of green hydrogen annually. The energy carrier will be transported underground via pipeline to the nearby Schwechat refinery, where it will "cover a significant portion of demand," says Martijn van Koten, OMV Executive Vice President Fuels & Feedstock and Chemicals: "Through the future use of green hydrogen, we are making the processes and production of fuels and chemical products more sustainable and making our industry future-proof." OMV expects a reduction in CO2 emissions of around 150.000 tons per year.
The location near the Sarasdorf substation offers the advantage that the system contributes to stabilizing the power grid by absorbing surpluses from wind and solar power production. The site requires approximately 7,4 hectares, 40 percent of which will remain unsealed. As compensation, the municipality will receive earmarked payments for climate protection measures for 20 years. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2027.
Investments in the mid-million range
OMV has not disclosed the exact amount of the planned investments, stating only that it is in the mid-three-figure million range. However, the investment decision is still contingent upon a funding commitment from the European and Austrian Hydrogen Banks. In the most recent EU auction in May, 15 projects from five countries received a total of €992 million from the Innovation Fund for the production of renewable hydrogen ( as previously reported ).
In parallel, Spain, Lithuania, and Austria are providing a cumulative additional €836 million in national funding for projects in their countries through the "Auctions-as-a-Service" feature. This makes it easier for Member States to finance eligible projects in their territory that meet the auction's qualification criteria but cannot be financed from the Innovation Fund due to budget constraints.
OMV launches Austria's largest green hydrogen electrolysis plant in Schwechat, with a capacity of ten megawatts. © OMV Aktiengesellschaft
At the end of 2024, OMV, in partnership with Kommunalkredit Austria AG, a company specializing in infrastructure and energy financing, completed a ten-megawatt plant at its refinery site in Schwechat. This plant is certified under the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) for the production of "renewable non-biogenic fuels" (RFNBO). Following an announcement in 2021, it was originally scheduled to go into operation in the second quarter of 2023. Commissioning actually took place in April 2025.
Despite all the statements about the importance of green hydrogen as a "central pillar of the transformation," as stated elsewhere, OMV plans to close all of its public hydrogen filling stations in Austria in the coming months, several media outlets reported unanimously in May. OMV is the only operator of public stations in Austria.
Photo above
OMV refinery in Schwechat near Vienna: At the end of May, the petrochemical company commissioned both the new 10-megawatt electrolyzer and a "ReOil" plant for recycling difficult-to-recycle plastics. © OMV Aktiengesellschaft
