(Lingen) – Essen-based RWE AG wants to produce green hydrogen at its Lingen site. A 14 megawatt pilot plant is intended to use two electrolysis technologies under industrial conditions 
test: The Dresden manufacturer Sunfire GmbH was commissioned to install a pressure alkaline electrolyzer with an output of ten megawatts. The British manufacturer of industrial gases Linde plc is also supplying a proton exchange membrane electrolyser (PEM) with an output of four megawatts.
The application for approval for the pilot plant has been submitted. Provided the authorities give the green light, construction work is scheduled to begin in June. The energy company wants to produce up to 2023 kilograms of green hydrogen per hour using green electricity from spring 290. The trial operation is initially designed to last three years, with the option of another year.
Hydrogen for the long-distance pipeline network
The hydrogen produced will be fed into a long-distance pipeline network. A consortium The joint project “GET H2” from industry and science started at the beginning of this year. The aim is to collect “important insights into the transport and storage of hydrogen” using a test pipeline.
In the first step, the companies 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 in Emsland to Gelsenkirchen.
The “Green Octopus” project will then establish a connection to the Netherlands, Belgium and France and later integrate it with Salcos in Salzgitter. The project is part of “TransHyDE” and is supported by the Federal Ministry of Research with 11,6 million euros.
Admixture in gas turbine
On the other hand, the energy source is to be mixed with the fuel of the Emsland power plant. In December the group announced that the RWE Generation SE and the Japanese turbine manufacturer Kawasaki Heavy Industries are planning to build a hydrogen-capable gas turbine in Lingen by 2024. The aim is to test the reconversion of hydrogen into electricity.
During the pilot phase, the turbine is tested in operating load ranges between 30 and 100 percent. “This corresponds to the load curves of gas turbines, as would be expected in a power grid with a high proportion of renewable energies that fluctuate due to weather conditions,” it said in a statement.
Funding from Lower Saxony
The state of Lower Saxony has promised funding of eight million euros for the Lingen project. Olaf Lies, Minister for the Environment, Energy, Building and Climate Protection, handed the decision over to Sopna Sury, the RWE board member responsible for hydrogen. This stated that RWE intends to invest 30 million euros in the construction of the test electrolysis facility on the site of its Emsland gas power plant.
By 2030, RWE will create an electrolysis capacity of two gigawatts in order to produce green hydrogen, said Sopna Sury. “The investment decision for a test facility here in Lingen is groundbreaking for us.”
Hydrogen storage in Gronau
At the end of April, RWE Gas Storage West GmbH announced the formal approval process for the construction of a hydrogen storage facility in Gronau, North Rhine-Westphalia, 
barely an hour's drive from Lingen. To this end, the natural gas cavern storage facility at Kottiger Hook should be expanded by the end of 2026. The hydrogen storage will largely be built on the existing RWE premises. An event in Gronau-Epe is scheduled to inform the public and residents on June 9th.
RWE has applied for funding for the storage construction as part of the “IPCEI-Hydrogen” (Important Projects of Common European Interest). The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia have already selected projects for which national funding should be made available in the event of a positive decision at European level; RWE's hydrogen storage is part of this list. According to the company, a funding commitment and thus the final investment decision are still pending.
Photos
RWE power plant site in Lingen in Emsland. © RWE
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Sketch of the planned pilot plant in Lingen. © RWE
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Sketch of the location for the hydrogen cavern in Gronau. © RWE
