Germany – Uniper and EWE plan to set up a hydrogen hub in Huntorf, Lower Saxony.
The companies will generate hydrogen using renewable energy (wind power) in Huntorf, store it there and create transport facilities to make it available to industry and the mobility sector.
“With Uniper operating a Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) power plant at the Huntorf site and EWE running a cavern storage facility for natural gas in the immediate vicinity, the project is perfectly set up to succeed in terms of location,” says EWE CEO Stefan Dohler.
Potential expansion
In the future, cavern storage facilities could also be used for hydrogen storage, and existing natural gas pipelines could transport hydrogen.
The site’s potential for expansion is currently estimated at up to 300 MW, with the individual expansion stages focused on hydrogen sales volume. As the project develops, one point of focus will be ensuring that the cooperating parties interact closely with hydrogen customers and their projects on site. By mid-decade, the project may have already seen its first customers be supplied with hydrogen.
Using hydrogen in CAES
The cooperation between Uniper and EWE at the Huntorf site also offers the possibility of using hydrogen in highly efficient CAES in the future. This means we can already start making the necessary preparations for solving the “Dunkelflaute problem” in the future energy system, which will be predominantly based on fluctuating renewable power generation.
