A consortium of RWE Generation, BP, Evonik, Nowega and OGE has submitted an application for funding from the EU Innovation Fund for the GET H2 Nukleus green hydrogen project in Germany.
The aim is to create the country’s first publicly accessible hydrogen network with scalable industrial production of green hydrogen, RWE said.
The company said the finance application is for the assumption of part of the investment and operating costs of it and BP for the production and purchase of green hydrogen.
It added the funding would be a medium double-digit million euro amount spread over 10 years.
“A funding commitment would be important in order to bring the project to economic viability in the context of the ramp-up of climate-neutral hydrogen aimed at achieving the climate targets and to enable binding investment decisions to be taken,” RWE said.
The GET H2 Nukleus aims to initiate the national expansion of a hydrogen economy along the value chain in Germany.
RWE Generation plans to build a 100MW electrolysis plant on the site of its gas power station in Lingen as a first step.
Hydrogen will be transported in existing natural gas pipelines to a BP refinery in Gelsenkirchen, to Evonik’s Marl Chemical Park and possibly to other customers.
The EU Innovation Fund is one of the world’s largest funding programmes for the demonstration of low-carbon technologies and processes, RWE said.
It said a decision on the funding application is expected by spring 2021 on whether GET H2 Nukleus will be approved for the second application phase.
By the end of 2021 it will be clear whether the GET H2 Nukleus will be eligible for funding, the company added.