Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck visits hy.store hydrogen storage project in Hemmingstedt in Dithmarschen district

BeBa Energie, GP JOULE and SaltPower presented their joint hy.store project on Monday to Robert Habeck, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The project will see the three partners build an integrated energy system for producing and storing hydrogen in Hemmingstedt, a small town in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. “Investing in hydrogen means investing in climate action, skilled jobs and security of energy supply,” Robert Habeck said.

The first stage of hy.store will involve leaching, or “flushing out”, salt caverns. The brine that this releases will then be used to generate electricity in an innovative process devised by the project’s Danish partner SaltPower, while the newly emptied caverns are set to store green hydrogen.

This hydrogen is expected to be produced on site in electrolysers using surplus energy from other renewable energy systems in the region in a move that will support the grid and encourage the expansion of wind and solar power. The project is thus making a major contribution towards reducing both redispatch and non-commodity costs.

Robert Habeck continued: “Making the hydrogen market ramp-up a success is a huge and vitally important mission that we’ve set ourselves, so I’m delighted that projects like this one here in Hemmingstedt are tackling this critical task head on. The hy.store project will give a boost to the local production and storage of green hydrogen. This also means being able to avoid bottlenecks and reduce costs. The project demonstrates the degree of technical advancement and innovative entrepreneurship that we need as our contribution to the energy transition, because investing in hydrogen means investing in climate action, skilled jobs and security of energy supply. With our 2023 National Hydrogen Strategy, we’re making these investments possible by laying sound foundations and painting a clear picture of where we want to be.”

The hydrogen produced can be used in sector integration applications, fed into the core hydrogen network or set aside as a strategic energy reserve in combination with potential “sprinter” power plants. 

“Together with other partners in the region and further afield, we’re committed to delivering hy.store as a key component of the energy transition,” explains Bernd Bartels, Founder and CEO of BeBa Energie GmbH & Co. KG.

Between them, the members of the project consortium boast a wealth of expertise in renewable energy, the hydrogen economy and cavern construction. BeBa Energie, which has already carried out comprehensive on-site analyses of the caverns, will make five of them available and will handle the planning and coordination of the leaching process and the preparations required to enable the caverns to be used. SaltPower is contributing its technology for producing clean energy, which uses osmosis and highly concentrated salt water to generate electricity, as well as its equipment, services and expertise. As an energy supplier, GP JOULE has extensive experience in planning, building and running integrated energy and hydrogen systems, from generating the energy through to converting, distributing and using it, and will take care of the project’s overall coordination and financing.

SaltPower’s CEO Lars Storm Pedersen added: “The skills that the three partners bring to the table dovetail perfectly. By working together, we’ll not only be creating somewhere to store hydrogen – we’ll also be using our technology to generate energy as we leach out the caverns. It really is a pioneering project.”

“Producing and storing hydrogen from renewable sources locally is key to the success of the energy transition, because this is the only way to harness peaks in the supply of solar and wind power and get energy into all the sectors – heating, mobility and industry,” highlights Ove Petersen, CEO and Co-Founder of GP JOULE. “It prevents renewable energy systems from having to be switched off and ensures round-the-clock security of supply for homes and industry.”

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About BeBa Energie

Bernd Bartels, Founder and Owner of BeBa Energie, has been a highly innovative and successful player on the renewable energy market since 1997. In 2006, he decided very early on to obtain a licence from the local mining authority for systems to store energy in the form of hydrogen in one of the best salt domes in Europe, located in Heide-Hemmingstedt and Lieth. Extensive groundwork has already been completed, thus paving the way with great foresight for storing hydrogen in the future. In recognition of these efforts, BeBa Energie was presented with the Innovation and Sustainability Award back in 2011 by the Alliance 90/The Greens members of Schleswig-Holstein’s state parliament and their leader at the time, none other than Dr Robert Habeck. Read more at www.beba-energie.de/en.

About GP JOULE

GP JOULE is an integrated energy supplier that covers the entire energy value chain, from generation to use – and from consulting and financing through to project planning, construction and service. GP JOULE produces and sells wind and solar power, green hydrogen and heat and makes use of it where it is most effective: in electric and hydrogen-based mobility, in households and in industry. From its base in Germany, GP JOULE has been shaping the future of energy in Europe since 2009. For a secure, independent and sustainable supply of energy. For 100% renewable energy for everyone. GP JOULE won the 2022 German Mobility Award for its eFarm hydrogen mobility project. Read more at www.gp-joule.com/en.

About SaltPower

SaltPower was formed in 2015 by the Danish engineer, inventor and businessman Jørgen Mads Clausen and has developed a new, sustainable and zero-carbon source of energy. The technology uses osmosis and highly concentrated salt water to generate electricity. Higher pressure means more electricity, enabling the resources required for osmotic power generation to be used more effectively and baseload electricity to be produced for an attractive price. The company is currently growing and supplies systems on a commercial scale. Read more at www.saltpower.net.

Press contact
Jürn Kruse
Corporate Communications
GP JOULE Group
j.kruse@gp-joule.de 
Tel. +49 (0) 4671-6074-213
Mobile +49 (0) 160-1540265

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