Germany – German utility EWE has taken a final investment decision (FID) on its €800m 280MW Clean Hydrogen Coastline project on the coast of northwest Germany. Siemens Energy has been awarded a contract to supply all the PEM electrolysers.
The plant in the German city of Emden is expected to go into operation in 2027 and will provide up to 26,000 tons of green hydrogen annually for various industrial applications in the region. If this green hydrogen replaces fossil fuels, around 800,000 tons of CO2 per year could be avoided in the steel industry, for example.
The electrolysis plant is part of EWE’s large-scale hydrogen project ‘Clean Hydrogen Coastline’, which consists of four sub-projects. The electrolyzer represents the core of the Emden hydrogen production plant, which, including other necessary components such as compressors and cooling systems, has an average power consumption of 320 megawatts over its entire lifetime. In addition to supplying the electrolyzer, EWE and Siemens Energy have agreed a ten-year service contract.
The German government and the European Commission had classified the project as a strategic funding measure, a so-called IPCEI project (Important Project of Common European Interest). The funding decision of 500 mln euro for this project was handed over to EWE last week at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection. With the signing of the contract, EWE and Siemens Energy immediately gave the go-ahead for implementation.
‘This project is an important element in the ramp-up of the green hydrogen industry in Germany,’ says Anne-Laure de Chammard, Member of the Executive Board of Siemens Energy. ‘With the long-awaited funding commitments, the German government has placed the final piece of the puzzle to realize strategically important projects like this on a large scale. The immediate conclusion of the contract with EWE demonstrates that the industry is ready to swiftly implement these projects.’
The electrolyzer from Siemens Energy is based on PEM technology, which uses electricity to split water into its components hydrogen and oxygen along the proton exchange membrane. This technology is particularly suitable for operation with renewable energies due to the very flexible ramp-up times. The stacks – the heart of the electrolyzers – are manufactured in the new gigawatt factory at Siemens Energy’s Berlin site.
