OMV, the big, integrated Austrian oil and gas company, has a cool new plan! They have just begun construction on the world’s first gigawatt-scale innovative green hydrogen plant in Bruck an der Leitha. This project will help the facility become one of Europe’s five largest green hydrogen production locations. It further designates it as the largest such facility within Austria and the wider southeastern European region. The plant will produce green hydrogen to be used at OMV’s Schwechat refinery, providing a major boost to the decarbonization of industrial processes.
The green hydrogen plant’s construction is scheduled to begin in Sept. 2025. We hope to get it in revenue service by the end of 2027. That facility is expected to produce 140 megawatts of green hydrogen annually. This shift in production has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 150,000 tons per year. This immense cut is in alignment with OMV’s overall climate strategy. They want to improve the sustainability of the Schwechat refinery by directly feeding hydrogen produced at the new facility.
In November 2025, OMV completed an agreement with record-breaker Masdar. They collaborated to form a public-private joint venture that will finance, design, build and operate the agricultural plant. Closing on the transaction for this partnership is expected in early 2026, subject to final documentation and regulatory approvals. Together, we hope this partnership makes it easier for everyone to work toward and realize a sustainable energy future.
The contract for funding confirmed by Austria’s aws locks in Austrian government backing for this collaborative effort. This support comes through the EHB program, under which aws operates as the national processing office. Alfred Stern, CEO of OMV, underscored how critical this funding is, saying,
“The positive assessment made by the EHB 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.”
This project would be an extraordinary coup for OMV. It lays down a huge marker for the energy transition in the whole of Europe. Looking at the project’s cutting-edge features, Stern went on to claim that
“With our project, we are setting a milestone for the energy transition in Europe and showing how OMV combines innovation and responsibility.”
European countries are already pushing full steam ahead to reach their aggressive climate targets. In this ambitious effort, OMV’s green hydrogen plant stands out as a pillar of sustainable energy evolution. This facility has a huge capacity to produce green hydrogen. It is poised to make a big impact on carbon footprints, particularly at the Schwechat refinery.