The largest green hydrogen projects in operation today are small in comparison to the green hydrogen and green ammonia projects of the 50-year period from 1928 to the 1970s, when cheap natural gas meant that ammonia production on electrolysers was no longer economic.
In Norway, two mega-projects were in operation using green hydropower to make hydrogen on electrolysers. Rjukan started up in 1928 with 165 MW of power flowing to 150 electrolyser modules generating 27,900 Nm3/hr of green hydrogen. At a similar scale, also using Norwegian hydropower, Glomfjord commenced in 1949. Both schemes used atmospheric pressure, alkaline electrolysis. The hydrogen was converted to ammonium nitrate, a fertiliser.
The fertile Nile delta in Egypt was the breadbasket for the Pharaohs. As the population of Egypt grew last century, agriculture intensified, and fertiliser was required. In a similar set-up to the two Norwegian projects, hydropower from the Aswan dam was used to generate green hydrogen.
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