Why One Electrolyzer Matters for Europe’s Energy Shift

A 100MW electrolyser shows clean hydrogen can scale, even if costs and power still bite

28 Jan 2026

Europe’s hydrogen ambitions have long sounded bigger than their balance sheets. At a refinery in Portugal, they are beginning to look more concrete. A 100MW electrolyser, now being commissioned and due to run fully in 2026, will supply renewable hydrogen to an existing industrial site. It is expected to replace about a fifth of the refinery’s fossil-based hydrogen. That is not a revolution. But it is a threshold.

Hydrogen is already widely used in refining and chemicals, mostly made from gas. Cutting its emissions without cutting output has proved awkward. Small pilot plants have multiplied, yet few have shown they can run continuously at industrial scale. This project suggests that hurdle is falling. A system of this size matters less for the molecules it makes than for the confidence it signals.

The electrolyser is modular, built from multiple units. That allows maintenance without shutting the whole system down, an unglamorous detail that refineries care about. Plug Power, the supplier, has focused less on novel chemistry than on reliability and cost over time. In a sector once dominated by prototypes, execution is becoming the competitive edge.

For Galp Energia, the refinery’s owner, the logic is defensive as much as green. The project sits within a €650m investment plan that spans renewables and advanced biofuels. Making hydrogen on site cuts emissions and hedges against tighter European climate rules that could otherwise strand assets. Industry estimates suggest emissions could fall by over 100,000 tonnes a year.

The wider effects may be more important. Large orders help equipment makers standardise production and lower costs. They also encourage power companies to build renewables tied directly to industrial demand, rather than hoping the grid will cope. That linkage is essential if hydrogen is to grow without pushing up electricity prices.

Plenty can still go wrong. Capital costs remain high, cheap renewable power is scarce in some places and grids are constrained. Performance at scale will be watched closely. Yet the direction is clear. Clean hydrogen is leaving the laboratory. In Europe, at least, it is starting to behave like an industry rather than an aspiration.