Vattenfall to build 100MW hydrogen plant at Moorburg

Swedish utility Vattenfall will build an electrolysis plant with a capacity of 100MW at its recently closed Moorburg coal-fired plant in Hamburg, Germany.

The project remains subject to a final investment decision (FID) but the company estimates the plant could start generating hydrogen in 2025, according to its planning schedule.

The utility has joined forces with Shell, Japanese engineering firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hamburg's municipal heating company to build the plant that will generate hydrogen from the electricity generated from offshore wind farms in the German North Sea and onshore wind turbines and solar units in the region.

Under a letter of intent signed by the partners, they also aim to build a green energy hub on the same site and investigate further to what extent the existing infrastructure at Moorburg can be used in the future to generate energy based on renewable power.

The partners also aim to apply in this quarter for funding under the EU's programme for projects of common interest.

The partners said the Moorburg site has ideal conditions for further use. It is connected to both the national 380kV transmission network and the 110kV network of the city of Hamburg.

Numerous potential customers for green hydrogen are located in the vicinity of the site, so that the entire hydrogen value chain — from generation to storage and transport to specific applications in the various sectors — can be mapped on site, Vattenfall said.

The previous 1.6GW Moorburg coal-fired power plant was taken out of the wholesale market in December last year as Vattenfall won a bid in the first tender for coal-capacity closures. The company is still waiting for a final decision by the relevant transmission system operator on the system relevance of the plant, which is scheduled for March 2021.

By Jacqueline Echevarria