Green hydrogen from north to south

THE GP JOULE-MAGAZINE NR. 14 / JUNE 2023
GP JOULE has created a blueprint for a regional green hydrogen economy with the eFarm project in North Frisia. More hydrogen ecosystems are now gradually emerging in other parts of the country.
The generation of wind and solar power must grow rapidly for the energy transition to succeed – that much is clear. But far too often, new wind and solar farms fail due to a lack of transmission capacities, especially between northern and southern Germany. It would be fatal from a climate protection perspective to simply wait for grid expansion. Green hydrogen can already solve the problem today and turbo-charge the energy transition. By transferring the electricity that cannot be fed into the grid due to bottlenecks to electrolysers instead, the expansion of wind and solar energy is decoupled from the sluggish expansion of the grid.
GP JOULE has given a specific example of what this looks like with the multiaward-winning eFarm project in North Frisia. In Bosbüll, Reussenköge and Dörpum, electrolysers produce hydrogen with local wind power. Seven trailers are used to bring the hydrogen to the filling stations in Husum and Niebüll. Two buses and 30 private and commercial cars refuel about two tonnes of green hydrogen from the region there every month. This hydrogen ecosystem has cost around 16 million euros to construct. About half of this came from federal and state funding. 20 regional companies and organisations are involved in the project company. The financing was also managed with the combined efforts of finance institutions GLS Bank, Nord-Ostsee-Sparkasse and VR Bank Westküste. Even in its first state of expansion, eFarm was the largest regional hydrogen project to map the entire value chain – from electricity production to use in vehicles.
Now the hydrogen infrastructure in North Frisia is to grow further. An additional hydrogen production plant is to be built in Langenhorn. Funding has already been promised for a third hydrogen filling station, also in Langenhorn. The number of vehicles will also increase: 10 fuel cell buses and 10 fuel cell trucks will be purchased. Positive funding decisions have already been issued for these as well. Monthly hydrogen sales at North Frisian filling stations are expected to increase to 12.5 tonnes per month in the coming years.
At the same time, GP JOULE designed the eFarm project in North Frisia as a blueprint for other regional hydrogen projects from the very beginning. Little by little, this approach is beginning to pay off.
Start of construction for HY.City.Bremerhaven
The first project to follow in the wake of eFarm is also located on the North Sea coast, in Bremerhaven. Construction of the hydrogen production plant began in April 2023 in an industrial area in the north of the city. The electrolyser has a capacity of two megawatts. It is operated by the specially founded company HY.City.Bremerhaven, whose shareholders also include GP JOULE. “We are building a green hydrogen infrastructure and creating the foundations for refuelling with 100-percent green and regionally produced hydrogen – for a liveable future and a healthy environment,” says André Steinau, Managing Director at GP JOULE HYDROGEN and HY.City.Bremerhaven at the groundbreaking ceremony. The electricity for the electrolysis comes from wind turbines in the Speckenbüttel industrial estate. Hydrogen production is scheduled to start in autumn.
As in the eFarm project, the hydrogen is transported by trailer from the electrolyser to the filling station. This is to be built in the east of Bremerhaven. The site is located directly next to the premises of the anchor customer BremerhavenBus and at the same time between the A27 motorway and the B6 main road. This means that other cars, trucks and buses can also fill up with green hydrogen at 350 or 700 bar at the filling station.
So far, there are firm orders for seven hydrogen buses, two of which have already been in operation since the end of 2022. The hydrogen is calculated to be enough for 34 buses a day. The investment in the entire project is around 11 million euros, including 5.5 million in funding coming primarily from the “HyPerformer” subsidy in the second round of the National Hydrogen Innovation Programme (NIP).
Hydrogen for Lusatia
The Lusatia Energy Park is currently being built in the municipality of Schipkau. 170 megawatts are already connected to the grid and a further 130 megawatts are planned. Part of the electricity will be used to produce climate-neutral hydrogen. GP JOULE is planning a generation plant of at least four megawatts and a filling station for cars, trucks and buses at the Klettwitz motorway station, near the A13 motorway. Permits have been applied for and construction is scheduled to start in early 2024. A network of interested companies has already been established in the region that want to use the “green” gas for their trucks, buses, refuse collection or construction site vehicles. The project is designed in such a way that as demand increases, production can also be increased. It is funded by NIP2.
Solar hydrogen for the Cochem-Zell district
Another project is called HY.Cochem-Zell and is being built in the district of Cochem-Zell in the Rhineland-Palatinate region. There, however, the electricity for the electrolyser is to be supplied by the sun and come from the planned Zeller Land Energy Park via a direct connection. GP JOULE has already leased an area for the electrolyser, and the funding application has also been submitted to the Jülich project management organisation. The green hydrogen is to be offered at two filling stations. The city council has already approved the development plan for the first filling station. The second site is still being examined in detail. Funding applications for both filling stations are to be submitted in May under the NIP.
The filling stations will initially supply hydrogen for 18 fuel cell buses that GP JOULE will provide. A special feature here is that the district of Cochem-Zell is currently putting its local public transport out to tender. The operator to whom GP JOULE will lease the hydrogen buses will therefore only be known after the decision has been made. It is clear, however, that the buses will need to be maintained and occasionally repaired. To this end, the operating company is planning to upgrade three workshops in the district. The corresponding grants for buses and workshops were approved at the end of 2022.
Just like eFarm, HY.Cochem-Zell thus also covers all stages of the value chain, from the solar park and the electrolyser to the fuel cell bus.
Waiblingen and Weilheim an der Teck: green hydrogen for the south
GP JOULE is extending its regional hydrogen projects into Baden-Württemberg with the HY.Waiblingen and HY.Teck projects. The first project in the state, a hydrogen production plant with two megawatts of power is to be built on the outskirts of Waiblingen near Stuttgart. The hydrogen filling station is planned at the same location. Stadtwerke Waiblingen and GP JOULE are shareholders in the HY.Waiblingen project company. The project is funded by the HyPerformer programme. The initial consumers will be eleven buses and five cars. Land is currently being acquired for the power generation facilities.
Waiblingen and Weilheim an der Teck: green hydrogen for the south GP JOULE is extending its regional hydrogen projects into Baden-Württemberg with the HY.Waiblingen and HY.Teck projects. The first project in the state, a hydrogen production plant with two megawatts of power is to be built on the outskirts of Waiblingen near Stuttgart. The hydrogen filling station is planned at the same location. Stadtwerke Waiblingen and GP JOULE are shareholders in the HY.Waiblingen project company. The project is funded by the HyPerformer programme. The initial consumers will be eleven buses and five cars. Land is currently being acquired for the power generation facilities.
The associated hydrogen filling station is also to be built in the same industrial estate, where the construction company Fischer Weilheim is one of the companies wanting to refuel its commercial vehicles. It is the second owner of the project company alongside GP JOULE. Funding for the filling station has also already been applied for. The project should be ready for approval by the beginning of 2024.
So GP JOULE’s strategy to use the eFarm as a blueprint and set up regional hydrogen projects all over Germany is flourishing. In this way, decarbonisation is also finally making progress in the transport sector.