power move

LyondellBasell announces renewable energy power purchase agreement with German partner

LYB is building its first industrial-scale catalytic advanced recycling demonstration plant at its site in Germany. Photo via lyondellbasell.com

Houston-based chemical company LyondellBasell has agreed to secure 208 megawatts of renewable energy capacity from a solar park in Germany.

Under the 12-year deal, LyondellBasell will purchase about 210 gigawatt-hours of solar power each year from Germany-based Encavis Asset Management. That’s enough energy to power about 56,500 homes each year.

LyondellBasell aims to purchase at least half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The deal with Encavis will enable LyondellBasell to achieve more than 90 percent of that goal.

A report from BloombergNEF ranks LyondellBasell as the world’s third largest corporate buyer of clean energy, behind Amazon and Meta.

“This latest agreement will accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy across different sectors in Germany,” says Chris Cain, LyondellBasell’s senior vice president for net-zero transition strategy.

Construction of the solar park got underway in March, with completion set for next summer. The park’s total generating capacity for solar power will be 260 megawatts, which is enough to supply electricity to about 96,000 homes per year.

“Leveraging our industry know-how, we are committed to operating the solar park in an environmentally sustainable and economically profitable manner,” says Karsten Mieth, a spokesman for Encavis Asset Management.

Encavis Asset Management is a wholly owned subsidiary of Encavis, a large-scale producer of wind and solar power in Europe.

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A View From HETI

The Clean Hydrogen Buyers Alliance plans to create the Gulf Coast Hydrogen Index to bring to bring transparency and confidence to hydrogen pricing. Photo via Getty Images

The Clean Hydrogen Buyers Alliance has proposed an index aimed at bringing transparency to pricing in the emerging hydrogen market.

The Houston-based alliance said the Gulf Coast Hydrogen Index, based on real-time data, would provide more clarity to pricing in the global market for hydrogen. The benchmarking effort is being designed to benefit clean hydrogen buyers, sellers and investors. The index would help position the U.S. “as the trading anchor for hydrogen’s next chapter as a globally traded commodity,” the alliance said.

According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, the global market for clean hydrogen was valued at $200 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $700 billion by 2040.

John Flory, president of the alliance, said the lack of a pricing index has relegated hydrogen to niche-market status.

“Capital is waiting. Buyers are ready. But until now, there’s been no credible, transparent pricing signal to guide clean hydrogen investing or contracting,” Edward Morse, co-chairman of the Clean Hydrogen Transaction Advisory Committee, said in a news release.

The index would treat the Gulf Coast as the primary delivery hub for pipeline-grade hydrogen in three categories: basic, low-carbon and ultra-low-carbon. It would be similar to the Henry Hub index for pricing of natural gas.

Roger Ballentine, co-chairman of the clean energy advisory committee, said the hydrogen index would build confidence in this energy source among government agencies, companies and investors. A Henry Hub-style benchmark for hydrogen “provides clarity, reduces risk, and lays the foundation for clean energy to become a globally traded commodity critical to decarbonization,” he said.

The Gulf Coast, with Texas as the focal point, is key to the evolution of the U.S. clean hydrogen economy, according to the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association.

At the core of the Gulf Coast’s role is the U.S. Department of Energy's selection of the Gulf Coast as one of the country’s seven regional hubs for clean hydrogen. However, the DOE has proposed cutting funding for the HyVelocity Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub, a $1.2 billion development in Texas and Louisiana by AES, Air Liquide, Chevron, ExxonMobil, MHI Hydrogen Infrastructure and Ørsted, according to a new list of proposed DOE funding cancellations.

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