Germany's Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action agreed to subsidy funding for 23 hydrogen projects in the country, committing a total of €4.6 billion, it said July 15.
The projects are categorized as Important Projects of Common European Interest by the EU, making them eligible for subsidies. Subsidy support is split 70/30 between the federal government and the German state where each project is based.
Germany's support funding spans the entire hydrogen value chain, including 1.4 GW of green hydrogen electrolyzer production capacity, hydrogen storage for up to 370 GWh, 2,000 kilometers of pipelines, and liquid organic hydrogen carriers equivalent to 1,800 tons of hydrogen annually.
The government said it focused on the joint impact of projects, for instance by spanning several federal German states to connect producers with energy-intensive offtakers like the steel and chemicals industries.
Other projects are set to facilitate imports from neighboring countries including the Netherlands.
The German government published the list of projects receiving support but did not provide a breakdown of the total sum.
RWE AG said it will receive €619 million for two large hydrogen projects. The funds will support the construction of a 300-MW electrolyzer to generate green hydrogen in Lingen as part of the GET H2 Nukleus project, as well as a hydrogen storage facility in Gronau-Epe. Both plants are in western Germany.
Funding has also been granted to the HyTechHafen Rostock consortium in which RWE is a member, developing a 100-MW electrolyzer plant at the port of Rostock in Germany's northeast. Other members are RheinEnergie AG, EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG and Rostock Port GmbH.
The federal government is providing 70% of the total funding for each of the projects. The states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the sites will be built, will contribute 30%. RWE is planning to invest a "medium three-digit million-euro amount" in the three projects, it said.
"Today is a great day for the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. Thanks to the funding from the German government and the federal state governments, the first industrial-scale hydrogen projects in Germany can now be implemented," said Markus Krebber, CEO of RWE.
Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub, a clean energy project in the north German port city, received funding for a 100-MW electrolyzer.
"We believe in the urgent need for an energy transition and are convinced that a holistic approach is required to achieve it," said Holger Matthiesen, project director at German asset manager Luxcara GmbH, which will develop the project with Hamburger Energiewerke GmbH. "The [Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub] project will significantly contribute to the ramp-up of the domestic hydrogen economy."
Hamburg's gas grid operator Gasnetz Hamburg GmbH will receive funding for building the first 40 km of a hydrogen pipeline system. Both projects together will receive €250 million.
"A high-performance hydrogen infrastructure plays a key role in enabling the decarbonization of industry and the energy sector," Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck said. "Hydrogen pipelines will be the lifelines of industrial centers. In this way, we are creating the prerequisites for climate-neutral growth."
The following projects also received subsidy support:
– 185 MW of electrolyzer capacity in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburg, developed by ENERTRAG Electrolysekorridor Ost HmbH & Co. KG.
– 56 km of hydrogen pipelines in Lower Saxony, developed by EWE NETZ GmbH.
– 50 million cubic meters of cavern storage for hydrogen in Saxony-Anhalt, developed by VNG Gasspeicher GmbH.
– 41 km of hydrogen pipelines in Saarland, developed by Creos Deutschland Wasserstoff GmbH.
– 295 km of offshore and onshore hydrogen pipelines in Lower Saxony, developed by AquaDuctus Pipeline GmbH.
– 120 MW of electrolyzer capacity in North Rhine-Westphalia, developed by L'Air Liquide SA's German subsidiary.
– 407 km of offshore and onshore hydrogen pipelines in Lower Saxony and Bremen, developed by Gasunie Deutschland Transport Services GmbH.
– 370 MW of electrolyzer capacity in Lower Saxony and Bremen, developed by EWE Hydrogen GmbH.
– 17 million cubic meters of cavern storage for hydrogen in Saxony-Anhalt, developed by EWE Gasspeicher GmbH.
– 73 km of hydrogen pipelines in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, developed by Thyssengas GmbH.
– 85 km of hydrogen pipelines in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, developed by Open Grid Europe GmbH.
– 158 km of hydrogen pipelines in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, developed by Nowega GmbH.
– 55 MW of electrolyzer capacity in Saarland, developed by HydroHub Fenne GmbH.
– Two liquid organic hydrogen carrier sites in Bavaria, developed by Hydrogenious LOHC Infra Bavaria GmbH.
– 618 km of hydrogen pipelines in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, developed by ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH.
– 301 km of hydrogen pipelines in Lower-Saxony, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, developed by ONTAS Gastransport GmbH.
