Moleküle des Wassers

© iStock/smirkdingo

On 29 July 2021, Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, handed over a funding notice for the construction of a 20 MW electrolyser for the production of green hydrogen by Air Liquide Germany in Oberhausen. The project has a volume of €10.9 million.

Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker said: “Our National Hydrogen Strategy marks a decisive step in the development of the energy transition. Parallel to this, the market ramp-up of the hydrogen economy is offering major economic potential, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, the Economic Affairs Ministry is working hard to put the regulatory and legal framework in place. What we now need is specific and ambitious projects. The ‘trailblazer’ project initiated by Air Liquide Germany is indeed a trailblazer in this regard. Here we can see what a sustainable transformation of the industrial sector and of certain portions of the transport sector can look like with the help of ‘green’ hydrogen. The project also sends a strong message about where the Rhine and Ruhr areas want to position themselves in the field of hydrogen.”

Trailblazer is the first hydrogen-related project in Germany to receive funding from the stimulus package under the National Hydrogen Strategy. Furthermore, the project, which centres on the first electrolyser built to global scale, marks the beginning of a partnership between Air Liquide and Siemens Energy in the field of electrolysis. It is also the first large industrial project in Germany to demonstrate the potential of green hydrogen in terms of climate policy and Germany’s industrial future – not least on account of the funding.

The electrolyser will be connected up to Air Liquide’s existing hydrogen pipeline and supply key-enabling industries with renewable hydrogen. The green hydrogen produced is to be used, for instance, by refineries and the steel and chemical industries.