ENERTRAG and the district of Prignitz set another milestone for the hydrogen strategy in Brandenburg.
ENERTRAG, a leading Brandenburg company for renewable energies, has announced an ambitious and groundbreaking project to build a hydrogen production plant in the Prignitz-Falkenhagen industrial park in close cooperation with the district of Prognitz.
Michael Drantmann, Project Manager PtX ENERTRAG, District Administrator Christian Müller, District of Prignitz, Falko Krassowski, Chairman of the Construction and Economic Committee of Prignitz, Guido Filipov, Strat. Project Development ENERTRAG (from left to right)
This collaboration marks a crucial milestone in the implementation of the hydrogen strategy of Brandenburg, Germany and Europe by providing a site for the production of green hydrogen on an industrial scale.
130 MW electrolyser in the Prignitz-Falkenhagen business park
The ambitious project is one of the first of its kind in Brandenburg and includes the construction of an electrolysis plant with an output of 130 MW on an area of around 8.6 hectares in the south-eastern part of the Prignitz-Falkenhagen industrial park. The plan is to designate an industrial area on which hydrogen production and a local substation are to be built.
A first important milestone for the successful implementation of the project was reached with the decision to draw up the development plan for the “Prignitz energy conversion industrial park”. The plan to convert farmland into industrial space and build a substation lays a solid foundation for boosting the H2 economy in Brandenburg and beyond in Germany as well. Commissioning is scheduled for mid to late 2027.
Joy in the district of Prignitz and in the city of Pritzwalk
The district of Prignitz is very happy about the upcoming settlement and the large investment that the company ENERTRAG wants to make here.
Christian Müller, District Administrator, who himself is very enthusiastic about the plans said:
This is a clear sign of the attractiveness of our Prignitz business park.
Because it is a great innovative project in the field of renewable energies, which will also benefit the entire region, for example via the waste product heat, and will bring it to the forefront, especially when it comes to green hydrogen, but also in terms of sustainability.
The conditions in the Prignitz business park are excellent for this, especially since the adjacent Ontras gas pipeline can be completely converted to hydrogen. There is hope that this will also have a signaling effect for further settlements in the Prignitz business park. Here there is a very good cooperation with the city of Pritzwalk, where they are also happy about the new settlement.
Dr. Ronald Thiel, Pritzwalk’s Mayor fully shares the district administrator’s assessment:
In this way we can perhaps become pioneers in terms of energy transition together.
Business Park Prignitz impresses with its strategically favorable location
The commercial park Prignitz-Falkenhagen, in which the plant is being built, is characterized by its strategic location in the north-west of the state of Brandenburg on the A24 federal motorway.
Michael Drantmann, responsible project manager at ENERTRAG, is convinced of the new location:
With a high potential for renewable energies and the direct proximity to the doing hydrogen pipeline, the location offers ideal conditions for green hydrogen production.
The Prignitz business development agency played a key role in the search for a suitable area and in establishing contact with the district, the city and the neighboring companies in the business park .
ENERTRAG plans investments of up to 200 million euros and creates jobs
The Prignitz district council has now also created important prerequisites for the project with its decisions for the preparation of the “Industrial Park Energy Conversion Prignitz” development plan on July 6, 2023. The district of Prignitz will continue to support its implementation to the best of its ability.
The planned investment of 150 to 200 million euros includes the creation of around 20 permanent jobs plus external trades (logistics, suppliers, etc.), which will be supplemented by more than 50 additional jobs during the construction phase. This can have a positive impact on the local economy, ultimately helping to improve the prosperity of the region.
Hydrogen project Prignitz-Falkenhagen is part of doing hydrogen
In addition to its economic contribution, this project is an integral part of the joint project doing hydrogen , which aims to convert part of the Ontras gas network infrastructure to a 100% hydrogen network and thus lay the foundation for a nationwide hydrogen network in eastern Germany and beyond.
The merger of various industrial partners combines H2 projects in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt into a powerful hydrogen hub. It is therefore not only a unique project for the people and the economy in East Germany, but also a central building block in the implementation of the German and European hydrogen strategy.
Part of the hydrogen produced in the Prignitz-Falkenhagen industrial park is to be used by the Concrete Chemicals industrial project in Rüdersdorf near Berlin. The hydrogen is to be fed into the doing hydrogen pipeline, which can also supply other customers between Rostock, Leipzig and Eisenhüttenstadt. Other regional and local customers can be supplied via a filling station and trailer.
Already in planning: partnership with Deliscious Vertical Farming Falkenhagen
One of the key innovations of this project are strategic partnerships to fully exploit all aspects of the technology. One of these is the partnership with Deliscious Vertical Farming in the Prignitz-Falkenhagen business park, where the plan is to use the waste heat from the electrolysis for heating in winter and cooling in summer for growing lettuce.
This sustainable use of the waste heat not only contributes to increasing the efficiency of the electrolysis system, but also makes a valuable contribution to the climate neutrality of the adjacent salad production.
Green hydrogen is a central pillar of the energy industry of the future. As an energy store, it contributes to the stabilization of the volatile renewable energies from solar and wind energy and relieves the power grids. In this way, it represents an effective instrument for sector coupling and decarbonization of processes.
The focus here is on particularly energy-intensive industrial processes that require high-temperature process heat, such as steel, glass, paper or cement production. A significant amount of CO2 equivalents will be saved through the use of hydrogen in industrial processes: The amount of hydrogen produced in Pritzwalk-Falkenhagen, for example, allows the further processing of 60,000 tons of CO2 per year into sustainably produced aviation fuels.
READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central
ENERTRAG and the district of Prignitz set another milestone for the hydrogen strategy in Brandenburg, Pritzwalk/Dauerthal, July 12, 2023
