A €4.7 million funding commitment by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) takes RWE’s proposed project a step closer to reality: In the Rhenish town of Bedburg, RWE plans to construct an electrolyser plant with a capacity of about 5 megawatts (MW) to produce green hydrogen.
Silke Krebs, State Secretary at the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, has now conveyed the funding commitment for construction of the electrolyser plant to Sopna Sury, COO Hydrogen at RWE. Sury estimated the total investment volume for the plant at about €25 million.
Sopna Sury, COO Hydrogen RWE Generation: “Green hydrogen from RWE can assist local companies in converting their processes from fossil fuels to locally generated green hydrogen in order to achieve their climate goals. The funding commitment by the State of NRW is an important first step towards implementing the entire project in Bedburg which, in addition to the electrolyser plant, will also include a filling station to enable the green hydrogen to be distributed by road in the absence of network structures.”
Silke Krebs, State Secretary at the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia: "The ramp-up of the hydrogen economy is of immense importance for the energy and industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Rhenish Revier in particular. Projects like H2 Bedburg can make an important contribution to kick-starting the energy transformation of North Rhine-Westphalia into Europe's first climate-neutral industrial region, guaranteeing energy supply security and enabling the sustainable development of the region. Investing in hydrogen secures the economic future and jobs in the region! I am therefore very pleased that with our funding we can now give the go-ahead for the installation of the electrolyser plant."
Sascha Solbach, Mayor of Bedburg: "With this funding commitment, we are opening a new chapter in the development of our energy DNA here in Bedburg. By using locally generated renewable energy from our wind farms in the town area for a medium that can be stored, we are offering companies from the town and the region the chance to make their operations and production C02-neutral and thus future-proof. The same applies to mobility and transport. These are impulses for the entire Rhenish mining area - made in Bedburg!"
The electrolyser plant will be built in the Mühlenerft Industrial Park, a site approved by Bedburg’s authorities for industrial development. The town authorities are prepared to make the required area available for the project.
A key precondition for implementing the hydrogen project is the conclusion of long-term, economically viable purchase agreements with customers in the surrounding region. Potential areas of application for the green hydrogen are logistics firms close to the Mühlenerft Industrial Park and vehicles from the local public transport network, which are to be converted to run on green hydrogen.
For an initial period, Bedburg is not expected to be connected to the core hydrogen network being planned by the German government. That means green hydrogen from the planned electrolyser can be distributed only by means of tankers. RWE is therefore also preparing to build a tanker filling station and a hydrogen fuel station in Bedburg. This part of the project will require successful participation in German government tenders for the expansion of hydrogen fuel stations.
Assuming the filling station is built and approval is received swiftly, the entire plant could begin supplying hydrogen to the region in 2026.
When it comes to hydrogen, RWE has all the possibilities under one roof: from green electricity production to expertise in producing and storing green hydrogen, and its Supply & Trading business that can make the fuel available to meet the needs of industrial wcustomers. RWE is currently working with high-powered partners on more than 30 hydrogen projects.
For an overview of the largest hydrogen projects RWE is involved in, see: RWE Hydrogen projects.