Thyssenkrupp IPO candidate UCE to build 200 MW electrolyser for Shell

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp's hydrogen unit Uhde Chlorine Engineers (tkUCE), which the German conglomerate plans to list in spring, has signed a deal to deliver a 200-megawatt electrolyser to oil major Shell, it said on Monday.

The agreement is part of Shell's Hydrogen Holland I project, a planned green hydrogen production site in the port of Rotterdam. The project is part of Shell's effort to become a net-zero-emissions energy business by 2050 and to cut production of traditional fuels by 55% by 2030.

Shell is expected to make its final investment decision for the site this year. Production could then start in 2024, said Thyssenkrupp, which has scheduled a capital markets day for tkUCE later this week.

"With our large-scale standard module size, we will further strengthen Shell's hydrogen strategy," Christoph Noeres, head of Green Hydrogen at tkUCE, said in a statement.

"Our partnership perfectly combines our engineering excellence with Shell's competence of a large global energy player."

tkUCE is the world's largest supplier of chlor-alkali membrane technologies needed to produce hydrogen, a field where it competes with Japan's Asahi Kasei, China's Bluestar Beijing Chemical Machinery and Britain's chemicals group Ineos.

Shares in Thyssenkrupp, which holds 64% in tkUCE, were up 2.6% after the announcement, reflecting the hopes tied to hydrogen as a booming business area across Europe.

Investors will get a deeper look at the business, in which Italy's De Nora is a co-shareholder, for the first time at a capital markets day on Jan. 13.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz, Editing by Miranda Murray and Bernadette Baum)