The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has promised to support the “West Coast 100” project in Schleswig-Holstein. The production of hydrogen from renewable energies, its transport in the gas network and storage in caverns are being researched and developed on an industrial scale. The investment costs total 89 million euros, the approved funding volume at the start of the project amounts to 30 million euros.
A consortium consisting of ten companies will work on the “West Coast 100” project: EDF Germany, Holcim Germany, OGE, Ørsted Germany, Raffinerie Heide, Stadtwerke Heide, Thüga and Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions, as well as the development agency Region Heide and the West Coast University of Applied Sciences. According to Ørsted, “the decarbonization of industry, mobility and the heating market should be tested under real conditions”.
With the funding approval, the five-year project enters its first phase. A newly founded joint venture “H2 Westend GmbH”, consisting of EDF Germany, Ørsted and the Heide refinery, will build a 30 megawatt electrolyser on the refinery site. This will produce green hydrogen using electricity from offshore wind energy and provide insights into the operation, maintenance, control and utility of the system.
The green hydrogen will be integrated into the existing process at the Heide refinery and is intended to replace gray hydrogen. In addition, part of it would be transported via a newly built pipeline to the Heide public utility company for transfer into the natural gas network. In a further step, a hydrogen filling station will be supplied. The results of the project serve as the basis for the construction of a 700 megawatt electrolysis plant. In the future, the waste heat and oxygen generated during electrolysis will be used here. In addition, the production of climate-friendly fuels for aircraft and extensive feeding into gas networks are planned.
“Our long-term goal is a hydrogen quota in the gas network of up to 100 percent by 2050,” explained Michael Riechel, Chairman of the Board of Thüga Aktiengesellschaft. “With the test run of an admixture of up to 20 percent in a network section with over 200 household customers, Thüga and Stadtwerke Heide are setting a precedent - the almost 100 municipal suppliers in the Thüga Group will benefit from the results on their way to decarbonized gas networks.”
According to Ørsted, hydrogen from electrolysis and CO2 from regional cement production in Schleswig-Holstein will be used in the manufacturing process for the future fuel production. To this end, preparations are being made to convert the Lägerdorf cement plant to a more environmentally friendly combustion process (oxyfuel). The project is scientifically supported by the FH West Coast.
With the National Hydrogen Strategy, the federal government decided in June 2020 to anchor green hydrogen as an energy source of the future in the energy system and to tap its industrial policy potential. “West Coast 100” was able to assert itself as one of 20 projects in the “Reallabor” ideas competition, which focuses on the production of hydrogen from renewable energies. The energy transition real-world laboratories are part of the federal government's 7th energy research program.
Deep link:
www.westkuste100.de
https://orsted.de/presse-media/news/2020/07/westkueste100-foerderbescheid
https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Pressemitteilungen/2020/20200803-reallabor-der-energiewende-bringt-wasserstoff-voran.html
Photos:
The “West Coast 100” project wants to build a 30-megawatt electrolyzer in Schleswig Holstein that will produce green hydrogen using electricity from offshore wind energy. / © Ørsted
