(Wilhelmshaven) – The Belgian infrastructure company Tree Energy Solutions BV (TES) and the Oldenburg energy supplier EWE AG want to jointly build and operate an electrolysis plant in Wilhelmshaven. The companies have now signed a corresponding declaration of intent.
500 megawatts of power
The plan is to install an electrolyzer with an output of 500 megawatts, which will go into operation in 2028. The system can be expanded to one gigawatt. The electricity used to produce green hydrogen comes from offshore wind farms in the North Sea. 
As reported, TES wants to build a terminal for hydrogen and its derivatives called a “Green Energy Hub” in Wilhelmshaven. “Wilhelmshaven’s proximity to existing onshore wind farms in the region and other offshore wind farms planned in the North Sea” are ideal for the location to also produce green hydrogen there, according to TES.
The final investment decision for the terminal is expected to be made next year. Operations will begin at the end of 2025, with the ramp-up phase scheduled for 2030.
FFI invests 30 million euros in the “Energy Hub”
In October TES announced that Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), part of the Australian mining company Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., wants to invest in the company. As reported, the agreement includes a €30 million stake in TES from FFI subsidiary Netherlands Fortescue Future Industries Holdings BV. Another 100 million euros will flow into the construction of the TES terminal in Wilhelmshaven.
FFI is thereby acquiring a 30 percent share in Deutsche Grüngas und Energiebedarf GmbH, a subsidiary of TES and the project company that will build the “TES Green Energy Hub” in Wilhelmshaven. According to the company, six berths and ten tanks with a storage capacity of two million cubic meters are planned for the terminal there.
CO2 pipeline planned
In April, TES and the Essen gas transmission system operator Open Grid Europe GmbH (OGE) announced plans to build a CO2 transport network. The focus is on CO2 emissions that cannot be avoided in the production process, as well as on the reuse of CO2 in a green closed-loop system to import green hydrogen. This network will initially be 1.000 kilometers long and enable a transport volume of around 18 million tons of CO2 per year.
The pipeline will “start from the green gas import terminal to be built by TES in Wilhelmshaven and connect important industrial, power generation and mobility locations throughout Germany”. The first part of the network is scheduled to go into operation from 2028. 
OGE and TES are in discussions with German steel producers, cement and lime producers, power plant operators and chemical plant operators in order to transport CO2 back to the future Green Energy Hub Wilhelmshaven via the transport network to be built. The network is available to all market participants equally from the start.
Graphic above (detail) and middle
Model of the Wilhelmshaven terminal: It includes six ship berths and ten tanks with a storage capacity of two million cubic meters, six of which will be available from the start. The berths are designed for ships in the “Suezmax” format and are therefore also designed for tankers that can pass through the Suez Canal. © TES
Graphic below
The future terminal in Wilhelmshaven will be connected to three major European hydrogen networks. © TES
