The Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub (HGHH) consortium, consisting of Luxcara and Hamburger Energiewerke, has contracted Siemens Energy to supply and install the electrolysers at its 100MW green hydrogen plant in Germany.
HGHH is building the electrolysis plant for green hydrogen at the site of the former Moorburg coal-fired power plant.
Siemens Energy will supply six units of its latest electrolyser model, which together form the 100MW hardware.
Construction work for the electrolyser is scheduled to begin next year, with commercial operation scheduled to start in 2027.
Around 10,000 tonnes of green hydrogen will be produced at the HGHH every year.
In addition to supplying the electrolyser units, HGHH and Siemens Energy are entering into a long-term partnership with a 10-year maintenance contract. Both parties have agreed not to disclose the value of the contract.
The stacks – the heart of an electrolyser – are manufactured in Siemens Energy’s new Gigafactory in Berlin and assembled at their Mühlheim site and at another European partner.
The selected electrolyser is based on proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology, which uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen along a membrane.
This technology is particularly suitable for operating with a dynamic supply of renewable energy, due to an inherent flexibility in production, HGHH said.
Head of business development at Hamburger Energiewerke and managing director of HGHH Christoph Cosler, said: “The order for the electrolyser is a milestone for our project.
“The decisive factor for this step was the national funding decision that we received for our project in mid-July.
“After all the preparatory work, we are now moving on to the actual implementation. Construction of the electrolyser, which will be a core element of the Hamburg hydrogen site, will start as early as next year.”
Preparatory work to make room for the construction of the electrolyser has been underway on the site of the former power plant since last autumn 2023.
The former Moorburg coal-fired power plant is being partially dismantled to make room for the 100MW electrolyser and the connection to the HH-WIN hydrogen distribution network.
Parts of the existing infrastructure and facilities shall continue to be used for HGHH’s purposes in future.
For example, the water treatment facilities, the workshop, and storage building will all be retained.
The existing connection to the extra-high voltage grid, which will supply the electrolyser with electricity from renewable energies in future, will be converted and relocated.
On the design and planning side, Ramboll was commissioned to perform the FEED study (Front End Engineering & Design) at the beginning of 2024, which is already nearing completion.
The consortium is aiming for a portfolio of hydrogen consumers from various industrial sectors and is already in negotiations with many of these companies.
Green hydrogen is to be supplied via the HH-WIN hydrogen distribution network and the planned truck loading station.