The Cologne District Government granted the permit under the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) for the “Hector” project, located at the Chempark Dormagen site in North Rhine-Westphalia. The facility is designed for an annual hydrogen storage capacity of approximately 1,800 tonnes. Commissioning is scheduled for late 2027. Project management, construction, and subsequent operation will be handled by LOHC Industrial Solutions NRW GmbH, a subsidiary of Hydrogenious LOHC based in Neuss.
The application was submitted at the end of May 2023 and has since passed all required assessments, including public disclosure and hearings. The LOHC technology developed by Hydrogenious is thus considered mature and officially approved for industrial-scale deployment.
The storage facility will be constructed on the premises of Covestro Deutschland. Covestro has been a shareholder of Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies since 2019 and intends to supply the facility with hydrogen classified as a renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO), which is produced in the company’s chlor-alkali electrolysis plants.
The “Hector” project also contributes to the scientific advancement of LOHC technology. The Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nuremberg for Renewable Energies (HI ERN) is supporting the initiative, focusing on catalyst performance optimization, ensuring hydrogen and LOHC quality, and developing robust quality assurance processes. The State of North Rhine-Westphalia is funding the project with nine million euros as part of the “progress.nrw” programme, of which approximately two million euros are allocated to the scientific work carried out by HI ERN.
Once operational, the “Hector” storage facility is to be logistically integrated with the IPCEI project “Green Hydrogen @ Blue Danube.” Through a dehydrogenation facility (release plant) in the Ingolstadt region, industrial off-takers in southern Bavaria are to be supplied with hydrogen. This overall initiative is known as “LOHC Link” and aims to establish a comprehensive hydrogen supply chain based on LOHC-BT.
Andreas Lehmann, Chief Executive Officer of Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies, sees the permit as evidence “of the maturity and industrial-scale applicability of our LOHC technology.”
