EWE is building a 320-megawatt electrolyzer in Emden
Green hydrogen is set to play an important role in industry and as an energy carrier in the future. EWE is building the largest production facility in Germany.
Artistic representation of the electrolyzer in Emden, which is scheduled to go into operation in 2027.
(Image: EWE)
The largest hydrogen production facility in Europe is being built in Emden. It is scheduled to go into operation in two years, as the utility company EWE announced.
With the awarding of the contract for civil engineering and construction work, the concrete implementation begins, EWE reports. The facility will be "part of a system-compatible overall concept of generation, storage, and transport".
The electrolyzer is intended to produce hydrogen using green electricity. The facility will have a capacity of 320 megawatts -- for comparison: the current largest electrolyzer in Germany, operated by the chemical group BASF in Ludwigshafen, has a capacity of 54 kilowatts. The facility in Emden is expected to produce 30,000 tons of green hydrogen per year, with an energy content of 1 terawatt-hour. Operation is scheduled to start at the end of 2027.
Underground storage for hydrogen
The electrolyzer is the first part of the Clean Hydrogen Coastline project. In addition to hydrogen production, the project also includes storage and transport. One sub-project is an underground hydrogen storage facility that EWE plans to establish in Huntorf. Cavern storage facilities already exist there in a salt dome where natural gas is stored. One of the natural gas storage facilities is to be converted for hydrogen.
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To finally transport the hydrogen, EWE plans to establish new pipelines that will connect the facilities to the German hydrogen core network and the so-called European Hydrogen Backbone. For this purpose, new pipelines are to be laid and existing gas pipelines are to be converted to hydrogen.
(wpl)
