VNG and HyCC plan to develop a 500MW green hydrogen facility in Lutherstadt Wittenberg for domestic energy use in Germany.
The electrolyser will be installed near the Piesteritz agro-chemical park and located opposite SKW Piesteritz, one of the potential off-takers of project GreenRoot.
Together, Leipzig-based VNG, its wholly owned gas trading subsidiary VNG Handel & Vertrieb (VNG H&V) and the Dutch firm HyCC, plan to begin the approval and consultation phase of the project in 2025, take a final investment decision in 2026, and begin operations in 2029.
While the companies have not confirmed if the full 500MW capacity will be operational by 2029, achieving this would position the project among Germany’s largest green hydrogen production facilities.
Furthermore, it’s expected that the initiative will be connected to the nation’s hydrogen core network, which received the green light to begin construction last October (2024). The parties will also “look into possible synergies to deliver heat from the plant to the municipal utility company of Lutherstadt Wittenberg.
Read more:Cleared for construction: Germany’s hydrogen core network secures approval
VNG and its H&V subsidiary have taken up roles as project experts and HyCC is anticipated to “contribute valuable expertise” in the electrolysis field.
“The domestic production of green hydrogen in cooperation with our partners and our local customers should strengthen the Central Germany region as an important industrial location and pave the way for sustainable value creation in the region,” explained Konstantin von Oldenburg, Managing Director of VNG H&V.
“We therefore advocate that the EU Commission makes the criteria for defining green hydrogen more flexible and deregulate it as soon as possible. In addition, the funding instrument of the Climate Protection Agreement should be further strengthened and made more pragmatic by the German federal government.”
The Managing Director added, “In our view, a sustainable stabilisation of the greenhouse gas quotas through a triple credit for green hydrogen and an exemption from network charges for electrolysers beyond 2030 would also be important for this.”
Ulf Heitmüller, CEO of VNG, reiterated that projects such as GreenRoot require “investments that we can only manage if they are economically viable.”
The CEO continued, For successful implementation, we therefore also need economic conditions and regulations that enable us to produce green hydrogen at competitive prices and support the use of hydrogen by our customers. We still need to work together on this.”
Despite the recent collapse of the German three-party coalition government, the potential of the nation’s hydrogen industry remains robust according to Charles River Associates’ (CRA) Dieter Keller-Giessbach.
Read more:German hydrogen robust enough to withstand political upheaval: CRA
“Any political imbalance is unfavourable for major transformation projects such as the hydrogen ramp-up in Germany,” explained the CRA Vice-President. “[Although], the most important subsidy regulations are on their way and cannot be stopped just because of a looming new election.”
Germany’s 9,000km hydrogen gamble: Will the Wasserstoff-Kernnetz pay off?
“We are creating security for everyone involved – from hydrogen producers at home and abroad to the operators of power plants and storage facilities and future industrial users.”
That was the message from German Vice-Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Robert Habeck, when his government’s plans for a 9,040km ‘Wasserstoff-Kernnetz’ or hydrogen core network (HCN) were approved by the Federal Network Agency (BNetZA).
The HCN will cover the width of the country, resulting in a feed-in capacity of 101GW of hydrogen and a feed-out capacity of 87GW. Expected to complement the nation’s ambitious hydrogen production and import strategy, the network will connect import terminals to industrial hubs located throughout the country.
It’s a mammoth ambition. In many ways, enabled not only by the aspirations of the German Government, but also by EU regulations. The European Council which adopted the Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gas Markets Decarbonisation Package last May.
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