The first grid-serving green hydrogen production facility in southern Bavaria was inaugurated on 19 April 2024, on the site of the future hydrogen centre in Pfeffenhausen. The construction of the facility has been completed, the commissioning phase has begun and is anticipated to be completed by summer 2024.
In the presence of Bavarian Minister President Dr Markus Söder, State Minister Hubert Aiwanger (Bavarian State Minister for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, Stmwi), District President Rainer Haselbeck (Government of Lower Bavaria), District Administrator Peter Dreier (District of Landshut) and numerous members of the German Bundestag and state parliament, Hy2B Wasserstoff GmbH will soon be commissioning the first grid-connected five-megawatt electrolyser in Bavaria. In Pfeffenhausen, between 440 and 600 tonnes of green hydrogen will then be produced annually for the regional bus services of MVV, the neighbouring hydrogen centre, existing and new hydrogen filling stations in the Munich metropolitan region, as well as other industrial and mobility customers in Bavaria.
HY2B, with its shareholders Hynergy Invest GmbH, BayWa AG, Tyczka Hydrogen GmbH, the administrative districts of Landshut and Munich as well as the energy cooperatives Niederbayern eG, Isar eG and Unterhaching eG, is the operating company for the green hydrogen generation plant in the HyPerformer model region HyBayern, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport (BMDV – Bundesministerium für Digital and Transport). The development work for the power supply, water, wastewater and data lines, as well as for road construction, has been fully completed after a year and a half of construction work.
The energy supply for the facility is to be provided primarily by renewable electricity supplied from a newly constructed open-field photovoltaic plant nearby and later also from wind turbines in the immediate vicinity. With its local green hydrogen production, the Hy2B’s HyBayern electrolyser contributes to energy security and the accelerated expansion of regional renewable power generation.
Dr Markus Söder, Bavarian Minister President: “A new milestone in Bavaria’s hydrogen strategy: The electrolyser in Pfeffenhausen in Lower Bavaria is the third in the whole of Bavaria – and a further important step on our path to the energy transition with the participation of the public. Bavaria is leading the way in Germany in the expansion of renewable energies. Surplus green electricity is converted here into hydrogen and as such an additional energy source. It is unfortunate that the federal government has reduced its announced funding. The Free State of Bavaria is providing 30 million euros in funding for the hydrogen centre. We are thereby making a clear commitment to climate protection and transformation: We are expanding our home energies and continuing to step up the pace. The federal government needs to do even more to expand the hydrogen infrastructure – not only in the north, but also in the south. Maintaining prosperity is a social and therefore also a democratic task. I would like to thank everyone who is committed to this Bavarian model project!”
State Minister Hubert Aiwanger: “The commissioning of the 5-megawatt electrolyser is another major milestone in the energy transition in Bavaria. The combination of hydrogen production, distribution and use at filling stations illustrates the versatility of hydrogen as an energy carrier and the possibility of creating regional hydrogen cycles. The adjacent future Hydrogen Technology and User Centre (WTAZ – ‘Wasserstoff Technologie- und Anwenderzentrum’) for the further development and standardisation of components in the mobility sector as a future user of hydrogen, will make a significant contribution to the success of the mobility transition in Bavaria. With the HyBayern project conducted by the districts of Landshut, Ebersberg and Munich, several hundred tonnes of green hydrogen can be produced annually and more than 4,500 tonnes of CO2 can be saved in stationary and mobile applications. There are even plans to double this output, thereby meeting the future increase in demand at an early stage. In this way, we can experience locally how our prosperity is secured and a clean future is created.”
Dr Tobias Brunner, Managing Director of Hy2B Wasserstoff GmbH: “I and the shareholders of Hy2B Wasserstoff GmbH are delighted that, at a time when green hydrogen is becoming increasingly important as an energy carrier and fuel, we are putting Bavaria’s first grid-compatible megawatt electrolyser into operation and will be able to deliver the first green hydrogen from Bavaria in summer 2024. We would like to thank everyone involved in the project, the Ministry of Digital and Transport (BMDV – Bundesministerium für Digital and Transport) in Berlin, as well as the Bavarian state government, the district of Landshut and the municipality of Pfeffenhausen.”
Outlook: From the start of operation, the electrolysis facility will produce an average of 1,200 kilograms of green hydrogen per day, compress it to a pressure of up to 450 bar and fill it in a filling station into pressurised gas trailers with capacities of 1,250 kg. The trucks will deliver the green hydrogen to two bus and truck refuelling stations in the districts of Munich and Ebersberg, among others, where the first ten hydrogen fuel cell buses from the HyPerformer Region HyBayern have been able to refuel since 2023. The buses began operating on the regional transport network of Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund GmbH (MVV) in 2023. Additional buses for further bus routes are being planned. The remaining green hydrogen will also be used to supply customers from the mobility and energy sectors. Some of the green hydrogen is to be delivered to existing and planned Bavarian hydrogen filling stations in order to accelerate the decarbonisation of transport in Bavaria and support the expansion of the filling station network. From 2024/25, the Hydrogen Technology User Centre (WTAZ) planned in the immediate vicinity of the Hy2B electrolyser is to be supplied with green hydrogen. The WTAZ in Pfeffenhausen, which is being supported by the federal government with 72.5 million euros in and the Free State of Bavaria with at least 30 million euros, will be one of four hydrogen centres in Germany to co-found the National Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Centre (ITZ – Nationales Innovations- und Technologiezentrum Wasserstoff).
The green electricity for green hydrogen production is to be generated primarily in the region surrounding the electrolysis facility. The programme will be launched with a free-standing photovoltaic system of up to 12.5 megawatts from BürgerEnergie Niederbayern eG, which will be connected directly to the electrolyser and linked to the grid via the electrolyser. This will enable the electrolyser to be operated in a grid-friendly and economical manner and provide regional producers with a short-term connection and purchase option for their renewable solar and wind power. In this way, the electrolyser helps additional renewable energy generation plants to be commissioned promptly and enables green electricity to be converted into green hydrogen, especially at those times when the grid is unable to absorb it. This green hydrogen is then used in mobile and stationary applications, leading to an annual saving of more than 4,500 tonnes of CO2 in the HyBayern model region.
The development of the HyBayern region as a hydrogen region is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport with up to 20 million euros as part of the National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP2). The funding programme is coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by Project Management Jülich (PtJ).
Source of original announcement: Hy2B Wasserstoff GmbH
Image source: ©HY2B2024