| Focus on Germany
New uses for old, and not so old, power plants
As elsewhere, a number of plans are emerging for hydrogen networks and hubs in Germany, centred on existing power plant sites
As previously reported in Modern Power Systems, Shell, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Vattenfall and municipal energy company Wärme Hamburg are jointly developing a plan – the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub – for the production of hydrogen via electrolyser from wind and solar power at the Hamburg- Moorburg CHP plant site.
A gas-fired power plant was operated by Hamburgische Electricitäts-Werke on the Moorburg site, while Vattenfall’s 2 x 827 MW Moorburg state-of the-art hard-coal-fired power plant only entered operation in 2015. Its commercial operation could be terminated early after the power plant won a bid in the German Federal Network Agency’s auction for nationwide coal phase-out, in December 2020. Following the auction, the four German transmission system operators carried out an assessment to see whether Moorburg was still needed to support grid stability and on 1 March 2021 announced their conclusion that it was no longer needed. Based on this, the power plant is due to shut down on 7 July 2021. The Moorburg site, with connections to the national 380 000 V transmission network and the 110 000 V network of the City of Hamburg, excellent port logistics, many potential hydrogen users nearby, and hydrogen distribution infrastructure plans already in place, is considered an optimal location for kick starting the hydrogen economy.
Providing additional momentum, the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub has now become part of a wider grouping, the Hamburg Hydrogen Network, which, in addition to the four companies developing the Green Hydrogen Hub, takes in Airbus, ArcelorMittal, Gasnetz Hamburg, GreenPlug, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik, Hamburg Port Authority, HADAG Seetouristik und Fahrdienst and Stadtreinigung Hamburg.
Both the German federal government and the European Union want to support projects in order to lay the foundation for a strong hydrogen economy in Europe. In a first joint effort, the Hamburg Hydrogen Network has submitted an application under an EU-wide support programme, IPCEI Hydrogen. IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) allows exemptions from the strict EU ban on state aid, with the aim of promoting a co-ordinated approach between EU countries to address serious market disturbances and particular societal challenges. The IPCEI Hydrogen aims to contribute to the market development of hydrogen technologies and systems throughout the hydrogen value chain. Thanks to local electrolysis, sea-side imports and connection to the emerging European hydrogen network, the Hamburg Hydrogen Network is considered to have the potential to
reduce Hamburg’s current 16 million tons/y CO2 emissions significantly by 2030.
The idea is that green H2 produced by the
Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub would replace fossil fuels in industrial production as well as in the transport and logistics sector. The additional utilisation of the waste heat from electrolysis for the district heating network and the thermal treatment of municipal waste would reduce the environmental footprint of a variety of industries even further.
The plan also talks of “a variety of positive spillover effects throughout Germany and across Europe”, with international cross-border collaboration considered “pivotal to the creation of a viable European hydrogen economy that includes renewable energy and hydrogen production facilities, integrated infrastructure and distribution as well as a variety of demand generators from heavy industries to road, rail, water and air transport.”
Nine projects for Hamburg The application submitted by the twelve companies of the Hamburg Hydrogen Network for the IPCEI funding programme envisages nine complementary projects – all in the vicinity of the Port of Hamburg, and include the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub itself.
Financial support by the German federal government is necessary under the IPCEI programme, which aims to close the price gap between green hydrogen and fossil based technologies.
Above: Aerial view of Moorburg coal fired CHP plant, with Hamburg’s Altenwerder container terminal in the background
www.modernpowersystems.com | May 2021 | 27
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