OMV and Austria Wirtschaftsservice have signed an agreement that will guarantee production funding of up to €123 million ($143m) for a planned green hydrogen plant in Lower Austria.
The project, initially announced in May 2025, has been previously assessed positively and recommended for funding by the European Hydrogen Bank.
The 140MW plant, into which OMV says it will invest hundreds of million of euros, is scheduled to be operational at the end of 2027 and will then be one of the five largest in Europe.
At the plant, OMV will produce up to 23,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually using renewable energy from wind, solar and hydropower, leading to a saving of up to 150,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
Martijn van Koten, OMV executive vice-president for fuels and chemicals, said: “By generating green hydrogen locally, this plant with a 22km pipeline running directly to the OMV refinery in Schwechat will make a considerable contribution to our decarbonization.”
OMV chairman Alfred Stern added: “The positive assessment made by the European Hydrogen Bank and the resulting funding from the Austrian state for our green hydrogen plant is a strong signal for the future of sustainable energy supply and Austria as a location.
“With our project, we are setting a milestone for the energy transition in Europe and showing how OMV combines innovation and responsibility.”
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Project breakdown
In November 2025, OMV and Masdar signed an agreement to establish a joint venture that comprises the financing, construction, and operation of the electrolyzer plant. The deal is expected to be concluded in early 2026, subject to the completion of the final documents, agreement from shareholders and regulatory approval.
Once complete, the plant will increase the sustainability of production processes, as well as the fuel and chemical products at the OMV refinery in Schwechat. OMV expects this to result in an annual reduction of up to 150,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, equating around 10% of the refinery’s current direct, production-related emissions.
The company will construct a hydrogen pipeline around 22km long to connect the electrolysis plant directly to the refinery and it has already secured operating and building permits for this.
For implementation of the project, OMV has also announced several partners: Siemens Energy will bring expertise in electrolysis technology and plant construction, while STRABAG will be responsible for the entire civil construction work.
The plant will be built under a contract that OMV has awarded to the consortium led by Siemens Energy which is responsible for the complete planning, procurement and construction.
Siemens Energy will take over the overall technical planning and will be supplying and implementing key components such as electrolysis stacks, transformers, rectifiers and compressors, which are used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy.
Austria’s hydrogen strategy
Austria, under its 2022 Hydrogen Strategy, aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2040, with hydrogen key to decarbonising hard-to-electrify sectors, promoting technological innovation and securing energy independence.
Under this plan, the country aims to have 1GW installed electrolyzer capacity by 2030 and replace 80% of fossil-based hydrogen with climate-neutral hydrogen in its energy-intensive industries by 2030.
The country is also looking to gradually convert its natural gas infrastructure into a targeted hydrogen network, with assessments for new hydrogen infrastructure needs.
With the hydrogen strategy, the gas will be used across sectors, including industrial, for iron, steel, and chemical industries requiring high-temperature processes; transportation, including long-haul trucking, aviation and shipping; and for energy storage to ensure seasonal balancing and grid stability for renewables.
