RWE orders two 100MW electrolysers for GET H2 as it eyes IPCEI funding

German energy company RWE has ordered two 100-megawatt proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers from Linde Engineering for its GET H2 hydrogen project.

The two electrolyser plants, which will be powered by offshore wind from the North Sea, are part of RWE’s efforts to build a total of 300 MW of electrolyser capacity in Lingen by 2026 as part of GET H2.

Linde Engineering selected ITM Power as the supplier of the electrolyser plants, which are said to be the largest PEM electrolysers under execution worldwide.

According to the information on the project’s website, the partners of the GET H2 are planning to implement the first 135 kilometres of the Germany-wide hydrogen infrastructure, from Lingen to Gelsenkirchen, which involves the construction of the electrolysers plants that convert renewable electricity into green hydrogen, the transport of green hydrogen in existing repurposed natural gas pipelines and use in refineries and later also in other sectors.

RWE plans to commission the first of the two plants in 2024 on the site of its gas-fired power plant in Lingen. The second plant is scheduled to start operating one year later.

With these deadlines in mind, the electrolysers were ordered two years in advance as the production of electrolyser stack modules of this size takes several months.

Moreover, GET H2 is one of RWE’s four hydrogen projects that have been shortlisted for funding for ”Important Projects of Common European Interest“ (IPCEI) since May 2021. Approval by the EU Commission under state aid law (notification) is pending for funding by the German government and the state of Lower Saxony.

Therefore, the early order of electrolysers will ensure that the commissioning dates are achievable in the event of approval under state aid law as they would be impossible to meet if there were further delays, RWE explained.

However, the company underlined that this does not yet imply a final investment decision.

As part of its “Growing Green” strategy, RWE intends to build at least 2 gigawatts of electrolysis capacity for the production of green hydrogen by 2030. The German company is involved in more than 30 projects worldwide at all stages of the hydrogen value chain.

In line with this, the company entered a strategic energy partnership with Norwegian counterpart Equinor that includes large-scale projects that are expected to contribute to the European energy supply, ramp up the hydrogen economy in Germany and the EU, and strengthen the long-term security of the supply of a European power sector.

Just recently, RWE’s FUREC project, which aims to produce circular and green hydrogen from non-recyclable municipal solid waste in Limburg, the Netherlands, received €108 million from EU Innovation Fund.