Romanian company Oltchim will build the first capacity to produce hydrogen energy

By Andra Beltz
A hydrogen energy production capacity will be built on the Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea platform, following an investment of between 500 million and one billion euros, said businessman Stefan Vuza, the owner of the petrochemical plant, in an interview with Agerpres.
The hydrogen plant would be financed from European funds, through the Green Deal and the Energy Efficiency Fund. This could be a country project, Romania will be among the first states in the European Union where there would be such a capacity, said Vuza.
This is given that Oltchim has the necessary experience for such a project, here there is already a research institute in hydrogen and cryogenics, and the plant also has the possibility to capture carbon dioxide. Oltchim aims to attract other players from the Romanian chemical industry, such as Azomureş, Terapia and the profile faculties.
In 2020, the company achieved a very good profit, 6 million euros net, which gives perspective for the coming years for meeting both profit and investment targets.
Stefan Vuza says: “Oltchim together with Chimcomplex, with the Research Institute of Hydrogen and Cryogenics also in Râmnicu Vâlcea, we will be active players in the Green Deal area. Here it would be good for the Romanian state to support, Brussels even allocates funds. We have found a lot of support from the politicians who represent us in Brussels. Now is the time to implement this direction of investment in installations that produce hydrogen energy. We have the science, we do it and it is only a matter of time before we implement it. Moreover, we can absorb CO2. If other industries release dioxide into the atmosphere and produce that greenhouse effect, we, through technology, absorb it into these polyols, which is particularly beneficial and very interesting. We would be among the first two companies in the European Union to do this.
“Moreover, we are in third place when it comes to recycling chemical waste. Over 1,200 tons of hydrochloric acid is brought in combined and recycled, and Romania is on the third place in the EU in this field, although in other fields, on the environment, we are criticized by the European Union ”
Ştefan Vuza: “We will submit three projects to the EC, but one is very big and it would be good for everyone to agree. We have named it a country project and we will present it to the Government next week, because the institutes must also participate, as well as the academic environment. It is about almost one billion euros of investments, just as it happened in the case of the Atomic Energy Institute from Măgurele. So we now, on hydrogen, together with the other players in the economy, we can make Romania a pioneer in the field of energy from hydrogen and, of course, in the field of CO2 “.