Enel Green Power and Maire Tecnimont SpA, through its subsidiary NextChem, have joined forces to encourage the production of green hydrogen by electrolysis in the United States.

Under the partnership, Enel will use NextChem's hydrogen technology and engineering expertise to deliver grow its green hydrogen business in the United States.

The agreement provides that NextChem will perform the function of technology and engineering partner, as well as full turnkey EPC contractor, providing Enel Green Power with the technical assistance necessary for the development and implementation of the project.

The scheme, which is expected to be operational in 2023, will use renewable energy generated by one of EGPNA's solar plants in the United States to produce green hydrogen that will be supplied to a biorefinery.

Enel Green Power chief executive Salvatore Bernabei said: "This new partnership represents the latest milestone in the Enel Group's commitment to promoting the development of green hydrogen.

"We are actively looking for opportunities in this segment in different parts of the world, both in Europe and the Americas, and we are excited to join forces with partners like Maire Tecnimont to make the most of the significant potential of green hydrogen for decarbonisation of sectors whose emissions are more difficult to abate."

Maire Tecnimont Group and NextChem chief executive Pierroberto Folgiero added: "We are truly proud to have been chosen by Enel as a partner in this industrial initiative, which enhances our Group's skills in hydrogen chemistry applied to green hydrogen production from renewable solar energy and represents an important step in the development of our green hydrogen initiatives, one of the founding pillars of our hydrogen strategy.

"One of the key points of our business strategy is to act as an enabler and facilitator of technology schemes.

"The American market proves to be interesting for us once again and we observe it with great attention."

Enel Green Power is evaluating the opportunities to place electrolysers in its development pipeline in the United States, which use electricity to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen.

By combining two or more technologies, such as solar energy and an electrolyser, Enel Green Power is able to create integrated plants capable of exploiting a wider range of revenue sources and/or generate additional risk mitigation options.

In the United States, the company focused on states where it already has an operational presence, such as Texas, Utah and North Dakota.

This agreement represents the first application of a collaboration framework agreement between Enel and NextChem to evaluate the implementation of joint projects, including the experimentation of advanced technologies to increase efficiency in the production of green hydrogen from renewable sources.