(Essen/Lingen) – The energy company RWE AG has ordered two 100-megawatt proton exchange membrane electrolysers (PEM) from the plant manufacturer Linde Engineering. RWE plans to put the first of the two systems into operation next year on the site of its gas power plant in Lingen in Emsland, Lower Saxony. The second system is scheduled to start up a year later.
According to the company, the production of the stacks and modules for electrolyzers of this size requires several months and must therefore be ordered well in advance. However, this does not yet involve a final investment decision.
300 megawatts of power for green hydrogen
As part of the “GET H2” project, RWE wants to install an electrolyzer capacity of a total of 2026 megawatts in Lingen by 300 and produce green hydrogen for industrial customers. GET H2 is one of four hydrogen projects with RWE participation that has been on the shortlist for funding from the “Important Projects of Common European Interest” (IPCEI) program since May 2021. However, the EU Commission's state aid approval for funding the project with funds from the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony has not yet been granted.
Building a supra-regional infrastructure
The aim of the GET H2 initiative is, together with national and European partners, to “create the critical mass necessary for the development of a supra-regional hydrogen infrastructure and the development of a European hydrogen market”. As part of the “Growing Green” strategy, RWE has announced that it will build at least two gigawatts of electrolysis capacity for the production of green hydrogen by 2030. According to RWE, it is involved in more than 30 projects worldwide at all stages of the hydrogen value chain.
It was only in May 2022 that RWE AG commissioned Dresden-based Sunfire GmbH to install a pressure alkaline electrolyzer with an output of ten megawatts in Lingen. In parallel, the British manufacturer of industrial gases Linde plc is supplying a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer with an output of four megawatts. RWE wants to work at the location as part of a pilot project test these two technologies under industrial conditions.
GET H2: In the first step, the planned network connects the producers of green hydrogen in Lower Saxony with industrial customers in North Rhine-Westphalia. © GET H2
From 2023, up to 290 kilograms of green hydrogen per hour will be produced using green electricity. The trial operation was initially designed to last three years, with the option of another year, it was said at the time. The hydrogen produced will be fed into a long-distance pipeline network as part of the “GET H2” joint project. The aim is to use a test pipeline to collect “important insights into the transport and storage of hydrogen”. In the first step, the consortium of industry and science will connect the green hydrogen production facility in Lower Saxony with industrial customers in North Rhine-Westphalia. A pipeline network around 130 kilometers long is planned from Lingen to Gelsenkirchen.
Photos
RWE power plant in Lingen, Emsland. © RWE AG
