Lingen pilot H2 electrolysis plant

Green hydrogen to be produced for the first time

Project: H2 electrolysis plant to produce green hydrogen for the first time

RWE is investing a sum in the mid eight-figure range to construct an electrolyser for trial purposes on the site of the Emsland gas-fired power station. A further €8 million is coming from a funding commitment by the government of Lower Saxony. The pilot project is thus taking its first firm step towards the development of large-scale electrolyser capacity, and is building up valuable experience in the use of such facilities in the process.

RWE is working with several project partners to create a common base for an entire electrolyser farm, which will take shape at the Lingen location. The pilot plant is expected to go into operation at the end of 2023. Using electricity from renewables, it will be able to generate up to 290 kilograms of green hydrogen every hour.

Technology: Pressurised alkaline process and proton-membrane electrolysis

The pilot plant for hydrogen electrolysis using green electricity will have an initial capacity of 14 megawatts, making it one of the largest facilities of its kind in Germany from the outset.

In the trial plant, RWE is testing two electrolysis technologies under industrial conditions:

Dresden-based manufacturer Sunfire has installed a pressurised alkaline electrolyser for RWE with a capacity of 10 MW. In a hall specially constructed for the purpose, modules have been combined in groups of four to create two stacks almost ten metres long. Each of the eight modules has a total weight of 15 tonnes.

In parallel, the leading industrial gas and engineering company Linde is making a further 4 MW available with a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser from ITM Power. The PEM electrolysers are divided into two 2-MW cubes with a compact structure which have also been installed in the halls at the trial facility.

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RWE will own and operate the entire facility in Lingen.

In future, the hydrogen will be fed into a public hydrogen network or be mixed with gas as a climate-neutral fuel for turbines at the power plant. The transport sector and the gas industry will also be served via a public hydrogen fuel station and a non-public hydrogen trailer filling station, “H2 Filling Hub Lingen”, with the hydrogen from the pilot plant. At a future date, it will also be used to supply the hydrogen-ready gas turbine being planned for construction in Lingen by RWE and Kawasaki.

Location: RWE makes transformation history in Lingen

The Lingen location plays a key role in RWE’s hydrogen strategy: As part of GET H2 project, the company is planning to put 300 MW of electrolyser capacity into operation in three stages by 2027. The objective of GET H2 is to work with partners to achieve the critical mass needed to get the construction of a national hydrogen infrastructure under way and develop a powerful European hydrogen market. The pilot plant being installed now creates an important foundation for all further activities. In the process, RWE is making it clear that Lingen as an energy producer has its full backing. 

Leading role for RWE in building up a European hydrogen economy

RWE has the knowledge and extensive experience needed to develop hydrogen projects: Large-scale, global wind and solar electricity production, expertise in the production and storage of green hydrogen, and an international energy trading structure that can supply the fuel to suit the needs of industrial consumers. RWE is already working with high-powered partners on more than 30 hydrogen projects.

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Trail-blazing investment decision for Lingen trial plant

“By 2030, RWE will have created two gigawatts of electrolyser capacity of its own in order to generate green hydrogen. In Lingen, we aim to gain operational experience with the industrial use of the two technologies that will account for several hundred megawatts in the context of GET H2, for example. The funding commitment by the Ministry of the Environment in Lower Saxony is a crucial contribution towards ensuring that this pilot project can be implemented and will pave the way for future large-scale facilities.”

Dr. Sopna Sury, Chair and Chief Operating Officer Hydrogen, RWE Generation

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Left to right: Olaf Lies (Minister for the Environment, Energy, Construction and Climate Protection for the State of Lower Saxony), Dr Sopna Sury (COO Hydrogen RWE Generation), Katja Wünschel (CEO RWE Renewables Europe & Australia GmbH), Nikolaus Valerius (Technical CEO RWE Nuclear GmbH)

Project partners from around the region: Go-ahead for a national fuel station network

Together with the Westfalen Group, RWE is working to supply green hydrogen for hydrogen-powered vehicles. The two companies aim to develop a hydrogen fuel station infrastructure in Germany for heavy commercial vehicles in particular. RWE will supply green hydrogen from its electrolyser infrastructure in Lingen, and the Westfalen Group will take care of setting up and operating the fuel station infrastructure. Depending on how the market develops, this will result in the creation of 70 hydrogen fuel stations by 2030 and make a crucial contribution towards reducing carbon emissions from heavy goods vehicles.

To begin with, the partners’ regional focus will be on North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. The first locations will take shape in the vicinity of logistics centres. The plan is to follow this with sites along autobahn routes. The first public hydrogen fuel station under the joint venture will be installed in front of the grounds of RWE’s Emsland gas-fired power station. Starting in 2024, goods vehicles, buses, refuse vehicles, small trucks and passenger vehicles will be able to refuel with green hydrogen from the 14-MW electrolyser facility operating there.

Funding

The project “NIP II market activation: Establishment of a publicly accessible hydrogen fuel station at the Lingen location ” is receiving a total of €6 million in funding from the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport as part of the National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology.

The funding guideline is coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by project sponsor PtJ (Projektträger Jülich).

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