(Rostock-Laage) – Test operation of Germany's first hydrogen-based supply power plant began in Rostock. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig has now put the first expansion stage into operation. The investments would be in the double-digit million range.
Apex Energy is developing an industrial park where companies will be provided with heat and electricity using locally produced hydrogen. The automotive supplier Rhodius GmbH was the first industrial customer to sign a 20-year contract, which includes complete supply with green energy from January 2022. According to its own information, Apex began building a local infrastructure in 2017.
The approval allows the construction and operation of a hydrogen power plant with an electrolysis capacity of two megawatts with an annual capacity of 16 gigawatt hours, the storage of hydrogen, the generation of electricity via a fuel cell with 100 kilowatts of electrical output or a hydrogen cogeneration plant with an output of 115 kilowatts. A battery storage system with a capacity of one megawatt is integrated into the system.
In addition to providing emission-free heat and electricity for the Apex Group headquarters, refueling for buses, trucks and cars is also planned. The throughput is 200 kilograms per day. An expansion of the supply capacity to 105 megawatts together with Siemens Energy is “in advanced planning”.
Photos
Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig starts the test operation of the hydrogen power plant in Rostock (from left to right: Apex CFO Peter Rößner, Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig, Apex Managing Director Mathias Hehmann, Rhodius Managing Director Knut Kille) / © Apex Energy
