Hydrogen: RWE commissions pilot electrolysis plant

This week, the energy group RWE commissioned a pilot plant for the production of hydrogen in Lingen. The plant on the site of RWE's Emsland gas-fired power plant has an output of 14 MW and can produce 270 kg of green hydrogen per hour. Electricity from renewable sources is used for this.

In the pilot plant, RWE is testing two electrolysis technologies that could be important for future large-scale plants on an industrial scale. One part of the plant consists of an alkaline electrolyzer from Sunfire with a capacity of 10 MW, the other part is a 4 MW plant with a PEM electrolyzer from Linde and ITM Power.

The hydrogen produced in the pilot plant will initially be added to the fuel for the gas turbine of power plant unit D on site. From mid-2025, hydrogen-powered vehicles are to be refueled with hydrogen from the pilot at the Emsland gas-fired power plant.

Planned filling station infrastructure

Construction work has started on the hydrogen filling station and a filling station for the hydrogen, as well as on the first large electrolysis plant near the pilot plant. A 100 MW electrolysis plant is to go into operation there from 2025, which is to be expanded to a production capacity of 300 MW by 2027.

The planned electrolysis plant is part of the "GET H2" initiative founded in 2019, which aims to build the first publicly accessible hydrogen infrastructure in Germany. The "GET H2 Nukleus" part of the project aims to connect the production of green hydrogen in Lingen with industrial customers in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. The approximately 130-kilometre network from Lingen to Gelsenkirchen is to be the first hydrogen network in the regulated sector with non-discriminatory access and transparent prices.

RWE plans to create 2 GW of electrolysis capacity for green hydrogen by 2030. Together with the Westfalen Group, the energy company intends to develop a hydrogen filling station infrastructure, particularly for heavy commercial vehicles. RWE is providing the green hydrogen, while the Westfalen Group is responsible for setting up and operating the filling station infrastructure. The aim is to have up to 70 hydrogen filling stations by 2030.

(anw)