Air Products inks supply deal with ExxonMobil in Rotterdam

Lehigh Valley, Pa.-based Air Products and Chemicals said today it entered into a long-term supply contract and plans to erect a new hydrogen production plant to serve ExxonMobil's Esso Rotterdam refinery in The Netherlands and additional regional customers.

The new hydrogen facility is expected to use new processes and technology to maximize energy efficiency and reduce plant emissions.

"We will be able to achieve this through an enhanced plant design, which targets minimal loss of heat to the environment and a reduced natural gas requirement," said Denis Deheusch, general manager-Tonnage Gases for Air Products in the Benelux, in a news release.

The plant is to be connected to Air Products' Rotterdam hydrogen pipeline network system and on-stream in the second half of 2011.

It’s being built through an alliance between Air Products, which provides the gas separation technology, and France's Technip, which has design and construction expertise for steam reformers (see StatoilHydro to test floating wind turbine and Two new biodiesel plants in France).

Air Products (NYSE:APD), a global hydrogen supplier, already has a number of hydrogen facilities in the Rotterdam region supplying the refining and chemical industries. It operates production facilities in Botlek, Pernis, Chemiehaven, and Europoort and manages a network of pipelines.

The new plant is expected to add four miles of pipeline to the existing 35-mile hydrogen system managed by Air Products in the region.

The Rotterdam project builds on two previous announcements in the past year involving Air Products and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM). Air Products is building a new hydrogen production facility for ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge, La. facility, and also signed a hydrogen pipeline supply agreement from Air Products' Gulf Coast network to ExxonMobil's Baytown, Texas refinery. Both projects are expected to be operating in 2010.

Air Products has also been busy signing supply deals in recent months for solar manufacturing facilities. Last month, it reached a supply deal with a Chinese subsidiary of DuPont to provide liquid bulk and specialty gases, gas distribution equipment, and engineering services to a new manufacturing facility for amorphous silicon thin-film photovoltaic modules (see Air Products gets deal for DuPont's new PV plant).

And in September, Air Products’ Indian joint venture was tapped by HHV Solar Technologies and Jupiter Solar Power for gases and materials at PV manufacturing facilities (see Air Products signs two supply deals for Indian solar factories).

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