FRANKFURT, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Hamburg's municipal heating
company and Shell, Mitsubishi (MBI) and
Vattenfall have signed a letter of intent to develop a
100 megawatt (MW) hydrogen electrolysis plant, the city state
said in a statement on Friday.
Electrolysis is a carbon-free process - if powered by
renewable electricity - to extract "green" hydrogen from water
and a key technology in Germany's plan to decarbonise its
economy by 2050.
The envisaged size of the Hamburg plant is in line with a
number of such other initiatives, bringing the hydrogen push in
Europe's biggest economy closer to commercially viable output
levels.
The so-called Green Energy Hub would produce renewable
hydrogen derived from wind and solar power, the statement said.
Hydrogen, produced using fossil fuels, is not carbon free.
"This is a bold venture that now needs to be filled with
life," said Jens Kerstan, head of the supervisory boards at
public sector Waerme Hamburg and Gasnetz Hamburg.
The plant would be located at Moorburg, a Hamburg suburb
where Vattenfall is idling its conventional coal-to-power
generation plant to avoid heavy carbon pollution from coal
burning.
The partners said they would apply for funding from European
Union programmes under Important Projects of Common European
Interest (IPCEI). Subject to a final investment decision,
production could start in 2025.
The Moorburg location, which the partners say offers ideal
conditions and numerous potential consumers of green energy in
the vicinity, is connected to high and low voltage grids while
overseas ships can call at the site directly via the Elbe river,
with the city's port offering discharging terminal services.
The municipal gas grid could also expand a hydrogen pipeline
within 10 years.
Last month, five northern German states calling themselves
Hy-5, including Hamburg, said they will promote green hydrogen
around the region.
(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Kirsten Donovan)
