Essen (D)/Bergen op Zoom (NL), 26 April 2023 – German State Secretary Michael Theurer today announced that the Rhine Ruhr region has been chosen as one of three winning regions of the HyPerformer II competition. The HyPerformer funding is targeting regional project consortia that already have detailed concepts for the use of hydrogen technologies and are now striving to roll out the technology. VoltH2, developer and future producer of green hydrogen, is working together with TÜV NORD GROUP on the creation of a hydrogen plant in Essen.
VoltH2, project planner and producer of green hydrogen, is developing a series of plants for the production of green hydrogen in Europe. With sites in Vlissingen, Terneuzen, Delfzijl (NL) and Wilhelmshaven (D), the company already possesses a portfolio with a potential production output of 500 MW. A fifth site will now be established in Essen. VoltH2 and EE Energy Engineers, a company of the TÜV NORD GROUP that is specialised in hydrogen, energy efficiency and sustainability, have demonstrated the project’s fundamental feasibility in a study.
The project is part of the HyPerformer Rhine Ruhr region. Thanks to having won the competition, a total of ten projects in the region are now entitled to apply for subsidies in order to build hydrogen filling stations and electrolysers. In total, the applicants in the Rhine Ruhr region will be supported for the construction of their facilities with 15 million € via the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport and another 15 million € via the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Iqony district heating
The initial discussions of VoltH2 with EE ENERGY ENGINEERS already began in early 2022. André Jurres, Managing Director of VoltH2: “Essen and the Ruhr area constitute a solid industrial network with excellent transport possibilities. In combination with the knowledge and expertise of the TÜV NORD GROUP, this was immediately seen as a project with potential for VoltH2.”
Production units with a capacity of around 10 MW will be erected on a surface area of 5,000 m2. The green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis. The heat that this generates will be fed into the district heating network (Iqony). Andreas Ziolek, Managing Director of EE Energy Engineers, explains: “We wanted to establish a project with a high degree of sustainability. Therefore our team not only focused on the pure production of green hydrogen, but also analysed how the waste heat generated by the electrolyser could be used to serve e.g. the TÜV NORD GROUP’s newly erected building on the site in Essen.”
Energy capital
The project calls for an investment of approximately 30 million euros. Under the current planning, the production of green hydrogen should begin in the year 2026. H2Mobility Deutschland, Europe’s largest hydrogen filling station operator, is also one of the potential customers. With over 80 filling stations, it today serves a large part of the German market. Within the framework of this project, one of the things that H2Mobility is building is a filling station in the immediate vicinity of the electrolyser in Essen. For VoltH2, which is making its green hydrogen available for the local mobility sector, the proximity to this potential customer is an additional advantage.
André Jurres: “This project offers opportunities at every point along the value creation chain. After the start of our first German project in Wilhelmshaven, the German energy port, we are delighted that a project in Essen, Germany’s energy capital, is now in the pipeline as well. Since the German market is so important, this month we’ve opened an office in Essen and are looking to hire German employees. In this way we will be close to the market and can direct our current and future German projects from Essen.”