Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder: “Funding the operational phase means we are taking the next big step towards electricity-based, climate-friendly fuels. With our help, the world’s first fully-integrated research facility is being established in Leuna, where electricity-based fuels can be tested along the entire process chain and on a semi-industrial scale. The technology platform thus bridges the decisive step between the laboratory and practical application – a milestone for electricity-based fuels and a strong signal that Saxony-Anhalt is a location for innovation.”
Minister President Dr. Reiner Haseloff: “Today is a good day for Saxony-Anhalt. Leuna has represented chemical innovation for over 100 years. What began once with the industrial manufacture of fuels will now go forward to the next generation. This shows that Saxony-Anhalt is not just a state with a major industrial tradition, but also a home for future technologies.”
Photo: Prof. Manfred Aigner, DLR Fuel Representative, Dr. Reiner Haseloff, Minister President of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, Patrick Schnieder, Federal Minister of Transport, Prof. Meike Jipp, DLR Executive Board Member, Energy and Transport, Prof. Karsten Lemmer, Member of the DLR Executive Board and responsible for Innovation, Transfer and Scientific Infrastructure (from the left). | Source: BMV/Woithe
The TPP in Leuna is a core component of PtL technology development in Germany. In 2023, the DLR was selected in a competitive process to plan the facility. The Federal Ministry had already allocated 5.48 million euros for this purpose. In 2024, 130 million euros was added for construction. The research and test operation for the time period between 2028 and 2035 is now secured thanks to the funds that have now been approved.
Professor Meike Jipp, DLR Executive Board Member for Energy and Transport: “With the TPP, the DLR is making an important contribution to shaping the profound transformation of the sectors of energy, mobility and industry and using future-oriented technologies, to strengthening Germany as an economic hub in challenging times. Electricity-based fuels make it possible to make aviation, shipping and heavy-duty road transport more climate- and environmentally-friendly. At the same time, they can help to make Germany’s supply status more resilient and less dependent on raw fossil fuels.”
Research facility with international appeal
The technology platform works on a campaign basis: individual process steps are tested under real industrial conditions, scientifically evaluated and further optimised. With an annual capacity of 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes of PtL fuels, Leuna is now the largest research facility for electricity-based fuels worldwide.
The TPP is thus providing important impetus for the future market ramp-up of electricity-based renewable fuels – particularly in aviation and shipping and in other areas where climate-neutral alternatives are desperately needed.
“The funding is a very important signal for people in the region. Structural transformation will only succeed if sustainable infrastructure is established that provides good jobs,” said Saxony-Anhalt’s Infrastructure Minister, Dr. Lydia Hüskens, on the occasion of the awarding of the funding notification in Berlin.
“For over 100 years, fuel has been produced in Leuna – there is no better place in the whole of Germany for this forward-looking project. Here, scientists and engineers are working shoulder to shoulder to keep Germany on course and establish Saxony-Anhalt as a leading location for green chemistry. This project creates new prospects and secures jobs. I am grateful for this clear and long-term commitment to Leuna and central Germany as a chemical hub,” said Saxony-Anhalt’s Economic Affairs Minister Sven Schulze.
Professor Dr. Armin Willingmann, Minister for Science, Energy, Climate Protection and Environment in Saxony-Anhalt: “Knowledge creates the future and research opens up new perspectives. I am delighted that the DLR is building a real beacon of sustainable mobility in Saxony-Anhalt. The TPP in Leuna has great potential to become a game changer on the road to climate-neutrality.“
Source illustration: DLR
