Uniper has unveiled proposals to develop a hydrogen hub at the northern German port of Wilhelmshaven with capacity to supply 10pc of the country’s demand for the gas in 2030.

Commissioning of the new terminal—which would include ammonia import and conversion facilities as well as onsite hydrogen production—is planned for the second half of this decade, depending on national import demand and export opportunities, says Dusseldorf-based Uniper, which is majority owned by Finland’s Fortum.

The move comes after Uniper shelved plans for a floating LNG import terminal at Wilhelmshaven following a market test in October that failed to attract adequate interest in booking long-term regasification capacity at the site.

"We need hydrogen to power sectors such as steel production, the chemicals industry or in freight, shipping and air transport" Bryson, Uniper

“It is essential that Germany and Europe remain industrial powerhouses: If we want to achieve this and still hit our ambitious climate protection targets, we need hydrogen to power sectors such as steel production, the chemicals industry or in freight, shipping and air transport,” says Uniper COO David Bryson.

Bryson says imports will be crucial to meeting Germany’s expected hydrogen demand. The country has plans in place to generate 14TWh of green hydrogen in 2030 — but demand for that year is forecast to be 90–100TWh, he notes.

“The discrepancy between these two figures is abundantly clear. We will be heavily dependent on imports if we want to use hydrogen to help us achieve our climate goals,” he says.

Ammonia cracker

Plans for the “Green Wilhelmshaven” hub include an ammonia cracker to convert imported ammonia into hydrogen, which Uniper says would be the first ‘scaled’ plant of its type. The site would also include a 410MW electrolyser for onsite production of green hydrogen. Total imports and onsite production of hydrogen would amount to about 295,000t in 2030.

Output from the hub would be used primarily by local industry, but there would also be sufficient production to feed into Germany’s national hydrogen network.

Uniper is also studying the feasibility of a hydrogen-powered direct reduction plant to produce crude iron at the site of the existing coal-fired power plant in Wilhelmshaven. The existing 757MW power plant is scheduled to shut permanently in December this year in line with Germany’s phase-out of coal-fired generation.

The aim is to produce around 2mn t of ‘green’ crude iron using hydrogen generated via wind power. Uniper is working with German steel producer Salzgitter and German logistics provider Rhenus Logistics, the city of Wilhelmshaven and the state of Lower Saxony on the project.

10pc – New hub’s potential share of German hydrogen market in 2030

"One sector in which hydrogen can play a crucial role in reducing CO₂ emissions is steel production,” says Axel Wietfeld, CEO of Uniper Hydrogen. “Currently, each metric ton of crude steel produced releases approximately one metric ton of CO₂ emissions. Hydrogen is the only realistic option for decarbonising this industry."

Uniper’s proposals for Wilhelmshaven come after a management shake-up last month saw the unexpected departure of CEO Andreas Schierenbeck. Analysts say the move may have been driven by majority shareholder Fortum amid discontent over the speed of the company’s push into lower-carbon forms of energy.

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Author: Stuart Penson