German utility RWE aims to deploy 700MW of electrolyser capacity for green hydrogen production and 2GW of hydrogen-ready gas-fired power generation by 2030 in Germany’s key industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The plans form part of a €4bn ($4.6bn) investment package that also includes the addition of a combined 1GW of wind and solar capacity in the state.

RWE’s announcement will put pressure on government at both state and federal level to support its plans for the country’s industrial heartland

“As an industrial state, North Rhine-Westphalia plays an outstanding role in the conversion to a climate-neutral economy. Politicians, companies and society are called upon to assume this responsibility and, above all, to seize the associated opportunities,” says RWE CEO Markus Krebber.

700MW – Planned electrolyser deployment

RWE says its expansion of green hydrogen capacity “requires funding regimes to be developed by the federal and state governments”. It also says the deployment of green hydrogen production close to sources of demand in industry and transport will require “a significant acceleration and simplification of planning and approval procedures”.

The utility also appeared to call for progress on hydrogen pipeline infrastructure planning to enable fuel to be transported to its planned hydrogen-ready power plants. “Clarity is needed as soon as possible as to how hydrogen will get to these locations from the mid-2030s,” it says.

Green hydrogen features heavily in plans outlined in January by Germany’s federal government to ramp up the expansion of clean energy to get the country back on track to meet emission reduction commitments.

The government has proposed using a contract-for-difference mechanism, based on prices in the EU Emissions Trading System, to support investment in production. It has set a 2030 electrolysis capacity target of 10GW, double the goal set in the previous administration’s national hydrogen strategy.

“North Rhine-Westphalia is a strong industrial state, and we want to stay that way. That is why we are working hard to accelerate the expansion of renewable energies and gas and hydrogen power plants in order to enable the climate-friendly restructuring of the economy and society,” says North Rhine-Westphalia’s economics minister, Andreas Pinkwart.

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Author: Stuart Penson