Back in July, Elektrolyse Mitteldeutschland GmbH (EMG) had already reported the operational readiness of the gas processing plant, and now the electrolyzer is ready to go as well. The next step is the commissioning of the overall system. This requires the individual plant components to interact smoothly. According to EMG, routine operation with industrial use of the hydrogen is scheduled to begin “from 2027.” Construction had started in June 2023.
The electrolyzer uses electricity from an adjacent wind farm with a capacity of 50 MW. The pressurized alkaline electrolyzer from Sunfire consists of three modules, each comprising two stacks. The hydrogen is to be transported through a converted former natural gas pipeline of Ontras Gastransport, roughly 25 kilometers long.
The next step is to optimize the interplay of power generation, electrolysis, gas processing and transport under real-world conditions and to align the technical processes with one another. The goal is to deliver around 3,000 metric tons of hydrogen in 2027 to the first industrial anchor customer: the TotalEnergies refinery in Leuna.
The project is run by Elektrolyse Mitteldeutschland GmbH (EMG), a joint venture of Uniper and VNG H&V. Uniper primarily contributes experience in project development, VNG H&V in marketing. The Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park is one of currently 16 funded “Reallabore” (real-world laboratories) of the energy transition, large-scale demonstration projects in Germany in which innovative energy technologies are tested under real conditions and at an industrial scale. VNG AG holds the consortium leadership in this real-world laboratory. Its CTO Hans-Joachim Polk says: “Such regional clusters can form the starting point for a growing hydrogen market. The Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park brings all the key prerequisites for this. Here we can test the interplay along the value chain in practice and gain experience that will also be valuable for building further regional hydrogen clusters.”
According to their own information, the project partners are investing a total of 210 million euros. This figure already includes 44 million euros in funding as a “real-world laboratory of the energy transition” from the 7th Energy Research Program of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie, BMWE).
In addition to those named above, the project partners include Terrawatt Planungsgesellschaft, VNG Gasspeicher (VGS), the VNG group of companies, Ontras Gastransport and DBI – Gastechnologisches Institut gGmbH Freiberg, an independent research institute of the DVGW, the German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water.
