German green energy firm HH2E AG and Swiss natural gas and power trader MET Group are gearing up to develop a gigawatt-scale green hydrogen production facility on the site of a former nuclear power plant on the Baltic coast.
The two partners announced today they have founded a new firm called H2 Lubmin GmbH to develop, build and operate a power-to-X plant in Lubmin in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The project envisages the addition of 100 MW of input capacity by 2025 and its expansion to 1 GW by 2030. The total investment is estimated to be above EUR 1 billion (USD 1.05bn), including over EUR 200 million for the first stage.
The initial plant will be able to produce around 6,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year, while the annual output of the facility upon full completion will exceed 60,000 tonnes.
The facility is expected to run on electricity from offshore and onshore wind farms as well as solar parks in the region under long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs). HH2E said it has solved the volatility of renewables production by combining a 50-MW alkaline electrolyser with a 200-MWh high-capacity battery.
“The electrolyser produces green hydrogen when the wind and sun provide enough electricity, and the battery is then charged as well. If the simultaneous generation of renewable energy is not sufficient, the battery supplies the green electricity that keeps the electrolyser in constant production,” explained Andreas Schierenbeck, co-founder and board member of HH2E.
Joerg Selbach-Roentgen, CEO of MET Germany GmbH, in turn, commented that the German market demonstrates “an extraordinarily high level of interest” in green hydrogen.
”The development of the project will strongly depend on the demand from industry and the energy sector in Germany, which we want to secure by reliable and long-term supply relationships,” he added.
Construction work on the first stage of the project is expected to begin as early as next year and commissioning is scheduled for 2025. The second stage is seen to be completed in 2030.
(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.048)
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Image source: HH2E AG.
