As part of the ‘GET H2 Nukleus’ project, RWE is building a 300 MW plant to produce green hydrogen on the site of its gas-fired power plant in Lingen. Two of the three electrolysers, with a capacity of 100 MW each due to be installed there had already been ordered by RWE from Linde Engineering and the electrolyser manufacturer ITM Power in 2022. The green light to build the plant was conferred once funding had been granted by the German government and the State of Lower Saxony.
Now RWE has commissioned Sunfire and Bilfinger to build the third construction phase. The contract amount is in the low hundred-million-euro range.
Sunfire is already a contract partner with RWE. A 10 MW alkaline electrolyser by the Dresden company is part of a pilot plant on the site of the Emsland gas fired power plant, where RWE is currently testing two electrolysis technologies (PEM and alkaline).
Bilfinger will be the solution partner for the integration of electrolysis. To this end, Bilfinger is taking on extensive planning tasks as well as the delivery and installation of the ancillary process technology systems such as water and hydrogen treatment, compression and control technology.
Dr Sopna Sury, COO Hydrogen at RWE Generation SE: “The construction work for the first 200 MW electrolyser capacity is progressing well. We have now contracted Sunfire and Bilfinger to deliver the elements for the next phase of the project, which is to be commissioned in 2027. This is sending out a strong signal to companies that are planning to switch their processes to green hydrogen. With the pipeline and storage infrastructure of other GET H2 partners being built in parallel, we will soon be able to supply green hydrogen in line with market requirements and in a structured manner.”
As part of the GET H2 Nukleus project, RWE collaborates primarily with the grid operators Nowega and OGE to connect its production facilities for green hydrogen to industrial consumers in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2025, the energy company is to commission its first 100 MW electrolyser, with site capacity to be expanded in 100 MW increments to 300 MW by 2027. From 2027, hydrogen from Lingen could be fed into a hydrogen cavern storage facility being built by RWE Gas Storage West in Gronau-Epe.
