Trafigura Buys Developer of Wind-to-Hydrogen Plant at Port of Esbjerg

Energy trading house Trafigura is buying a majority stake in a European hydrogen fuel startup as it expands its portfolio of H2 projects. 

Trafigura is now the owner of H2 Energy Europe Holding AG, the EU subsidiary of H2 Energy Holding, which will retain its minority stake and will continue to contribute knowledge and experience to help the company develop. Trafigura also holds a minority stake in H2 Energy Holding.

H2 Energy Europe is planning to build a new one-gigawatt green hydrogen plant at the port of Esbjerg, Denmark, and a final investment decision on the billion-dollar project is expected next year. Production could begin as early as 2026. 

The Esbjerg plant is about one mile from the seaport, making it ideal for maritime and heavy-duty trucking customers. It is near three offshore wind farms and one the two primary landing zones for offshore wind power cables in Denmark. Local grid bottlenecks mean that there is excess power available. 

The firm is also in planning stages for a much smaller 20 MW green hydrogen plant in South Wales, UK. If it secures government backing, it could be in operation within two years' time. 

H2 Energy Holding first made its name in the new field of hydrogen-fueled trucking. In partnership with Hyundai, it has built out a full "ecosystem" of H2-powered trucks and fuel stations in its home market in Switzerland.