Independent developer HH2E is confident of reaching FID later this year on its Lubmin green hydrogen project on eastern Germany’s Baltic coast after securing “a significant number” of offtake deals and first-phase investment from private equity shareholder Foresight Group.

Recent progress with the project, which will have a first-phase capacity of 100MW with the potential to scale up to 1GW, puts HH2E “on the verge” of becoming one of Europe’s largest green hydrogen producers, the Hamburg-based company says.

Its ambition is to install 4GW of capacity in Germany by 2030. HH2E says it has already identified more than 15 potential project locations. Construction at Lubmin, a major energy and industrial hub and entry point for the Nord Stream gas line from Russia, is expected to be complete in mid-2025.

4GW – Target capacity by 2030

“Our plans are now closer to being a reality than we initially imagined, thanks to the collaboration with the Foresight Group, which is acting as a significant catalyst,” says Alexander Voigt, co-founder and board member of HH2E.

“Lubmin, with its abundance of renewable energy sources, planned pipeline connections and an already signed significant number of green hydrogen supply contracts with offtakers, presents itself as a very promising location for green hydrogen production. These factors add to our optimism that the process of making the FID will be accelerated.”

London-based Foresight took an equity stake in HH2E in May last year, alongside UK-based investor HydrogenOne. Both investors agreed at the time to support five major projects in Germany, which HH2E expects to have a total capital cost of about €500mn ($588mn).

Foresight and HydrogenOne are both investing in Thierback, a second project announced by HH2E in January. That project will be located near Borna in the district of Leipzig. The 100MW first phase is scheduled for startup in 2025 and has the potential to scale up to more than 1GW by 2030.

HH2E’s model for both projects is to combine an alkaline electrolyser with a high-capacity battery to balance out intermittent renewable power input. In March, HH2E prebooked  120MW of electrolysers in a deal with Norwegian manufacturer Nel.

 The Lubmin project is in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on a site formerly housing Greifswald, the former East Germany’s largest nuclear power plant, which was decommissioned shortly after German unification. The area has significant offshore wind and solar power generation capacity already in place, as well as access to gas pipelines and planned hydrogen pipelines.

---

Author: Stuart Penson