German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck: Plans to build 23.8GW of hydrogen power plants by 2035

On August 1, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck announced the German plan. These hydrogen power plants will be used to provide electricity to the grid when wind and solar power are insufficient, acting as energy storage and demand-side response.

Of these hydrogen power plants, 8.8GW of new plants will operate directly on hydrogen. Open a bid for 15GW of hydrogen power plants by 2035. These plants can temporarily run on natural gas before being connected to a hydrogen network.

Germany wants to decarbonize its electricity supply by 2035. The German Federal Ministry for Climate Action for Economic Affairs, BMWK, has said that in the future all power plants must operate in a climate-neutral manner. The massive energy transition task requires not only advanced technologies to convert fuels to renewable energy (especially hydrogen), but also significant investments in the development of transportation and storage of hydrogen and its infrastructure.

Germany's bid for hydrogen power plants includes the following three types:

1) Sprinter Green Hydrogen power plant

BMWK explains that it is targeted at places that are connected to infrastructure, such as large hydrogen or ammonia storage facilities, regional power grids or hydrogen clusters, or where there are opportunities to import hydrogen or ammonia. The funding is for generating electricity from renewable hydrogen once the plant is operational. Project tenders for 2024-2028 total 4.4GW. The project is aimed at the upgrading of new hydrogen power plants and existing natural gas power plants.

2) Hybrid power plant

It refers to the combination of wind and solar energy with local hydrogen storage and hydrogen power plants to achieve controlled electricity generation based on renewable hydrogen. The total capacity of the hybrid power plant tender is planned to be 4.4GW, which refers to the capacity of the hydrogen power plant segment.

3) H2-ready power plant

New or existing power plants that will initially run on natural gas will be converted to run on 100% hydrogen by 2035. The proposed tender for H2-ready plants has a total capacity of 10GW, of which up to 6GW will be used for new hydrogen power plants. The remainder will be existing natural gas power plants converted to run on 100% hydrogen.

Although details of the tender have not been disclosed, BMWK said that the German government will take measures to minimize the risk of excessive government funding and maintain the competitive intensity of the tender projects.

Through the construction of large-scale hydrogen power plants, Germany will make significant progress in the energy sector and take an important step towards achieving the goal of decarbonizing the electricity supply. This will also open up more possibilities for decarbonisation in other sectors. At the same time, the plan will encourage investment and innovation to promote the integration of renewable energy and hydrogen technologies in Germany. Germany's development in the hydrogen energy industry is also expected to attract more investment and talent, accelerate the maturity and popularization of the hydrogen energy industry, and make positive contributions to the global hydrogen economy.

Attached is a link to the original German information:

https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/DE/Pressemitteilungen/2023/08/20230801-rahmen-fuer-die-kraftwerksstrategie-steht.html