Joint hydrogen project “Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park” receives EUR 34M funding decision as “real laboratory for energy transition” in Germany.
The “Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park” has reached the next milestone. Andreas Feicht, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), in the presence of Dr. Reiner Haseloff, Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, handed over the notification for funding as a “real laboratory of the energy transition” (Reallabor der Energiewende) for around 34 million euros, presented by Andreas Feicht, State Secretary in the responsible Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).
Cornelia Müller-Pagel, head of the project in the consortium and head of “Green Gases” at VNG says:
In the “Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park”, the project partners seek to investigate the production, storage, transport, and economic use of green hydrogen under real conditions on an industrial scale.
“After the BMWi declared the project to be a real laboratory worthy of funding as part of the two-stage application process as early as 2019, those responsible for the consortium of companies involved have in the meantime fleshed out the plans and pressed ahead with them.”
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“We are very happy to now hold the long-awaited decision in our hands and to finally be able to get down to the actual work. With this showcase project, we want to demonstrate together that the industrial use of green hydrogen is absolutely possible and makes economic sense.
“With our project, we want to contribute to further research into green hydrogen as a pioneering future technology and bring it to market maturity. At the same time, our goal is to provide important impetus for the region and to develop Central Germany into a technologically strong and future-oriented hydrogen region.”
Dr. Reiner Haseloff Saxony-Anhalt’s Minister says:
In the nineties, we developed the chemical park model very successfully in Saxony-Anhalt.
“I am firmly convinced that we are also pioneers with the Bad Lauchstädt energy park and that the model will become a success story. Today we are giving the starting signal for a secure and climate-friendly energy supply for Germany.”
With the funding decision now received, the project will start work immediately. Behind the “Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park” is a consortium of companies consisting of Terrawatt Planungsgesellschaft mbH, Uniper, VNG Gasspeicher GmbH (VGS), ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH (ONTRAS), DBI – Gastechnologisches Institut gGmbH Freiberg (DBI) and VNG AG.
The aim of the joint project is to map the entire value chain for green hydrogen in southern Saxony-Anhalt. Renewable electricity from a new wind farm to be built will be converted into climate-friendly hydrogen by means of a large-scale electrolysis plant with a capacity of around 30 megawatts and supplied to the chemical industry in neighbouring Leuna via a 20-kilometer pipeline to be redirected by ONTRAS.
To this end, hydrogen production and hydrogen transport as well as central components of hydrogen storage such as efficient gas purification and safety technology will initially be further developed and tested from fall 2021.
In the second phase, the salt cavern planned for hydrogen storage, which will be almost 180 meters high, is to be completed and integrated into the value chain from 2026. The project has a total investment volume of around €140 million.
The development and construction of the energy park is basically planned in two phases, which will be processed and implemented independently of each other: Starting this autumn, the approved funding will initially be used to further develop and test hydrogen production and hydrogen transport as well as central components of hydrogen storage as a “real laboratory of the energy transition”. T
he latter include, for example, efficient gas purification and safety technology. In a second phase, which is not part of the current research project, the aim is to complete the cavern for hydrogen storage and integrate it into the value chain from 2026.
Overall, the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park is characterised by a high density of innovations and close interaction between the various stages of the value chain. It also contributes to the decarbonisation of the chemical industry, which is strongly represented in the region. In the future, the energy park can also be integrated into the emerging European hydrogen infrastructure via other eastern German hydrogen projects.
With its National Hydrogen Strategy, the German government decided to anchor hydrogen in the energy system as the energy carrier of the future. Green hydrogen in particular was assigned a key role in this framework, because it is produced from renewable electricity by means of electrolysis and is thus considered to be particularly environmentally friendly.
As part of the 7th Energy Research Program, the BMWi had previously launched the “real laboratory of the energy transition” competition and announced total funding of 100 million euros. The aim of the energy transition real laboratories is to promote the application of innovations in practice.)
Highlights:
- Joint project investigates production, storage, transport, marketing and use of green hydrogen
- Construction and development of first project components to begin in fall 2021
- Common goal of the six participating consortium partners: to develop Central Germany into a hydrogen model region
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Milestone reached: Joint hydrogen project “Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park” receives funding decision as “real laboratory for energy transition”, Düsseldorf, September 9, 2021
