Two green hydrogen production units at the Corinth and Amyndeon refineries are, among other things, included in the Motor Oil Group's strategy for the development of the new fuel.

These are, as Motor Oil executives said today, the EPHYRA project, which includes the installation of a 30 megawatt hydrogen production unit to be integrated into the industrial operations of Motor Oil's refinery and the 50–100 MW unit being developed by Hellenic Hydrogen, a joint venture between Motor Oil and PPC. In both cases, green hydrogen will be produced, meaning that the energy consumed for the electrolysis of water will be produced from renewable energy sources.

The electrolysis system at the Corinth refinery will be combined with the generation and storage of electricity from renewable sources, an innovative waste heat recovery technology, environmental optimisation of water use, and the utilisation of the oxygen produced in the refinery's current operations. The project started in June 2023 and is being implemented through a consortium of 10 partners from 7 different EU countries and the UK, coordinated by Motor Oil. The expected completion date of the project is estimated to be the end of May 2028. Motor Oil is in the final stage of selecting the supplier of the electrolysis system, and renewable hydrogen production is expected to start in 2026.

Hellenic Hydrogen is developing the North-1 project, which involves the development of a 50–100 MW electrolysis plant (with a capacity of 200 MW) at a decommissioned lignite-fired power plant in the Western Macedonia region. North-1 will be the first commercial renewable hydrogen plant in Southeast Europe and one of the first plants of this scale in Europe. The initial investment is estimated at €60–70 million.

Consumers of hydrogen, apart from the refineries themselves, are large industrial plants, heavy-duty vehicles running on fuel cells, and also the natural gas network, which can move hydrogen up to a certain level without technical problems.