Austrian state-controlled power company Verbund and regional utility Burgenland Energie have set out joint plans to develop a 300MW green hydrogen project in the country’s eastern state of Burgenland.

The facility, to be powered by wind and solar energy, would produce 9,000t/yr of hydrogen in a first phase from 2026, rising to full production of 40,000t/yr in 2030, the companies say.

The project is the first to be announced since the Austrian government set out a national hydrogen strategy in June. The strategy calls for 1GW of electrolyser capacity by 2030. The government expects the country’s hydrogen demand to increase by a factor of four or five by 2040, requiring both local production and imports.

“Europe is facing a turning point in the energy industry,” says Verbund chairman Michael Strugl. “Renewable energies are our only chance for decarbonisation and independence from fossil imports—but we also need green hydrogen as a game-changer. Now is the chance to put Austria in a pioneering role. This joint project takes us a big step towards the future of energy.”

40,000t/yr – Targeted production by 2030

In addition to wind and solar, Verbund is one of Europe’s largest hydropower generators, with total capacity of about 8.2GW spread across Alpine regions of Austria and Bavaria in southern Germany.

The Austrian government has highlighted the need to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels by developing domestic energy sources such as hydrogen. “We are currently feeling quite clearly how dangerous our dependence on energy imports is. That is why we will increasingly rely on domestic production for green hydrogen,” says climate action minister Leonore Gewessler.

Austria is one of the EU member states involved in Hy2tech, a €14bn ($14bn) hydrogen technology innovation project which recently became the first to be approved for state aid under the EU’s Project of Common European Interest scheme.

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Author: Stuart Penson