RWE launches electrolyser for green hydrogen production in Lingen

RWE has commissioned a pilot 14MW electrolyser in Lingen, Germany. The plant is expected to be capable of producing 270 kilograms of green hydrogen per hour. The renews. website reported.

Green hydrogen production began in early August at RWE’s electrolyser in Lingen, Germany. For RWE, this is one of its major hydrogen initiatives this year. As a pilot project, the initiative is intended to provide valuable insights for the development of future industrial-scale hydrogen production facilities.

The facility, which is powered entirely by renewable electricity, is located at RWE’s Emsland gas-fired power plant and can produce up to 270 kilograms of green hydrogen per hour. It is equipped with two different electrolysis technologies: pressurised alkaline electrolysis and membrane electrolysis.

The pressurised alkaline electrolyser has a total capacity of 10 MW. In a specially built hall, the modules were connected in groups of four to form two stacks almost ten metres long. Each of the eight modules weighs 15 tonnes. Two additional 4 MW electrolyser units use a proton exchange membrane (PEM) to produce hydrogen. The PEM electrolysers are divided into two 2 MW cubes.

Under RWE’s GET H2 Nukleus project, a 100MW electrolyser is due to be commissioned at the same site by 2025, with its capacity set to increase to 300 MW by 2027. Lingen is also expected to be connected to the European hydrogen network.

"Lingen is one of the most exciting locations in Germany’s energy transition. In addition to operating our flexible gas-fired power plant and state-of-the-art large-scale battery system, we are now also producing green hydrogen here. In the coming years, we will further expand our green hydrogen production capacity at this site so that we can supply green hydrogen to industrial consumers and support them in their decarbonisation efforts," said Markus Krebber, CEO of RWE.

RWE has major plans for hydrogen. The company has extensive global electricity generation from wind and solar farms, which can power green hydrogen production. According to the company, it is already working with strong partners on more than 30 hydrogen projects.