As part of the GET H2 Nukleus project, RWE is building a 300 MW electrolyser facility for producing green hydrogen on the site of its Lingen gas-fired power plant (aka Emsland). Two of the three electrolysers to be installed there, each with a capacity of 100 MW, have already been ordered by RWE from Linde Engineering and PEM electrolyser manufacturer ITM. This was in 2022. Now, RWE has commissioned electrolysis technology supplier Sunfire and engineer Bilfinger to build the third electrolyser, which will employ Sunfire’s pressurised alkaline technology (ten 10 MW modules). The contract amount is in the low-hundred-million euro range. The contracts were signed just days after the final investment decision was taken by RWE. The green light was given after funding had been awarded by the German federal government and the State of Lower Saxony.
The first 100 MW electrolyser at Lingen is to be commissioned in 2025, with the full 300 MW expected to be in operation by 2027.
The GET H2 Nukleus initiative is aimed at building the first piece of hydrogen infrastructure in Germany that is accessible to the public.
As part of the GET H2 Nukleus project, RWE is collaborating primarily with the gas grid operators Nowega and OGE to connect its Lingen production facilities for green hydrogen to industrial consumers in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.
The grid, spanning 130 km from Lingen to Gelsenkirchen, is expected to become the first hydrogen grid in the regulated sector, with transparent prices and non-discriminatory access. In this way, the initiative hopes to contribute towards significantly accelerating the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy and helping companies in the industrial and mobility sectors to reach their climate targets.
Hydrogen infrastructure construction progress on the Lingen site is ”sending out a strong signal to companies that are planning to switch their processes to green hydrogen”, said Dr Sopna Sury, COO Hydrogen at RWE Generation SE. “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.”
A 14 MW pilot electrolysis system (capable of producing up to up to 270 kg of hydrogen per hour) is already in operation at the Lingen power plant. This pilot consists of two sub-systems: a pressurised alkaline electrolyser from Sunfire with a capacity of 10 MW; and a 4 MW plant, designed and built by Linde using a PEM electrolyser (PEM: proton exchange membrane) from ITM Power.
Initially, the hydrogen produced in the pilot plant is to be added to the fuel for the power plant’s unit D gas turbine as part of a comprehensive test programme at the site. Hydrogen from the GET H2 Nukleus electrolysers will also be supplied to unit D.
From mid-2025, it will also be possible to fill hydrogen-powered vehicles with hydrogen from the Lingen pilot plant. Construction work on a hydrogen filling station and a trailer filling facility for hydrogen has already commenced.
From 2027, hydrogen from Lingen will also be able to be fed into a hydrogen cavern storage facility being built by RWE Gas Storage West in Gronau-Epe. In this way, green hydrogen can be supplied flexibly in line with demand from industrial consumers.
In addition to the 14 MW pilot, there is also a high-temperature solid oxide electrolyser (SOEC) in operation at the Lingen site. This employs Sunfire’s SOEC technology and has been producing hydrogen since 2023. With an output of 250 kW, it is part of the TransHyDE project, which is investigating transport of hydrogen in the public gas supply system. The hydrogen produced by the SOEC is fed into new and existing pipelines at the site.
RWE’s partners in the TransHyDE project are Adlares, Evonik Operations, Meter-Q Solutions, Nowega, Open Grid Europe and Rosen Germany, together with the DVGW Research Centre at the Engler-Bunte Institute of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the University of Potsdam.
