RWE signs ups Linde to deliver planning services for Lingen electrolyzers

German utility RWE has signed up industrial gas and engineering group Linde to deliver permit planning for two 100-MW electolyzer plants in Lingen, Lower Saxony, RWE said Dec. 20.

The plant is part of RWE's goal to install 300-MW of electrolysis capacity by 2026 at Lingen as part of the wider GET H2 European hydrogen infrastructure project. Total electrolyzer capacity at Lingen could eventually be scaled to 2 GW by 2030, the Germany utility said.

"In the initial stage the proposed new plant will consist of two 100 MW Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzers and will be powered by offshore wind power from the North Sea to produce green hydrogen," RWE said.

The first 100 MW electrolyzer was due to be operational in 2024, the second in early 2025 provided public funding was cleared under the EU's Important Projects of Common European Interest mechanism, it said.

Permit planning was part of the pre-project development phase, RWE noted, with subsequent engineering, procurement and construction phases subject to the award of state aid through the Federal Republic of Germany.

S&P Global Platts assessed the cost of producing renewable hydrogen via PEM electrolysis production at Eur25.60/kg Dec. 17, while blue hydrogen production by steam methane reforming (including carbon, CCS and capex) was Eur8.75/kg (both Netherlands).