VoltH2 becomes first Dutch hydrogen company with German subsidy and launches third German production site
Handing over 15 million euros for hydrogen mobility in the Ruhr region in the presence of King Willem-Alexander
Duisburg (D)/Bergen op Zoom (NL), Nov. 15, 2023 - VoltH2 has received a subsidy in Germany for the production of green hydrogen. The North Rhine-Westphalia state government is awarding the Dutch hydrogen company a €15 million grant within the HyPerformer program. VoltH2 will split the amount between two electrolysers in Essen and Gelsenkirchen. The green hydrogen should green mobility in the region and will be used for buses and trucks.
From left to right: Mona Neubaur (Minister of Economics North Rhine-Westphalia), Hans Brinkhof (VoltH2, Business Development/Regulatory Affairs), Prof. Dr. Julia Frohne (Managing Director Business Metropole Ruhr GmbH), Karin Welge (Mayor Gelsenkirchen), André Jurres (VoltH2, Managing Director) - Copyright: Ralph Sondermann
To curb CO2 emissions and thus help make European industry and mobility more sustainable, VoltH2 is building a network of green hydrogen plants in Europe. As of now, there are six sites on the counter, together accounting for a potential production capacity of over 500 MW. Two of these production plants will be in Germany's Ruhr region, specifically in Essen and Gelsenkirchen. For these two sites, VoltH2 received yesterday evening, in the presence of King Willem-Alexander, a grant of 15 million euros within the HyPerformer program.
Entire value chain
The German government is fully committed to green hydrogen as one of the pillars of a climate-neutral energy policy. It is working in HyPerformer regions or zones that concentrate all links of the hydrogen value chain for the transport sector: from production to storage, distribution and refueling infrastructure to the applications, such as buses, municipal utility vehicles, trucks or cars.
HyPerformer grants are therefore aimed at regional project consortia that have already worked out detailed concepts for hydrogen technologies and now want to apply them in practice. In the first HyLand phase, three winning regions were selected from six applications. In April 2023, the Rhine-Ruhr region, where Essen and Gelsenkirchen are located, was one of the three regions declared winners of the HyPerformer II program. VoltH2's grant application was submitted by Hydrogen Metropole Ruhr (HyMR). In total, VoltH2 will receive €15 million from the Ministry of Economy, Industry, Climate and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia to help develop its plants in Essen and Gelsenkirchen. At the same time, the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport in Berlin is also granting a further €15 million for filling stations and electrolysis plants of up to 1 MW, spread throughout the region.
Klimahafen
Earlier this year, VoltH2 had already announced a facility in Essen. Now with Gelsenkirchen comes a second production facility in the Ruhr region. André Jurres, CEO of VoltH2: "We foresee a 10 MW plant within the Klimahafen of Gelsenkirchen, which acts as a hub for research and development of green hydrogen technology. In addition, it is a favorable location for hydrogen refueling stations because of the large volumes of goods transhipped there by truck, the local logistics companies and the connection to a well-developed highway network. Both in Essen and Gelsenkirchen, we will produce 800 tons of green hydrogen annually, which will be used for buses, trucks and other forms of goods traffic. According to our current planning, we will start production at both locations in 2026."
VoltH2 Gelsenkirchen: rendering
(End of press release)
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About HyPerfomer
The first German hydrogen networks, infrastructures and projects are being grouped into HyPerformer regions by the German government. HyPerformer grants are therefore aimed at regional project consortia that already have detailed concepts for using hydrogen technologies and now want to roll out that technology. In the first phase, three winning regions were selected from six applications. They will each receive 20 million euros in the form of investment grants to implement existing regional concepts. The grants will be used to expand research and development activities and procurement projects and to close investment gaps needed to realize innovative hydrogen applications. The project volume of the three HyPerformers totals 195 million euros.
The three regions selected as winners of the first round in the HyPerformer category were Landshut (with the districts of Munich and Ebersberg), Metropolitan Region Northwest (Oldenburg and environs) and Metropolitan Region Rhine-Neckar (around Mannheim and Heidelberg).
In April 2023, three new regions were awarded in the HyPerformer category as part of HyLand II: H2Rügen-Stralsund, HyPerformer Rhine-Ruhr and TH2ECO_Mobility from the Erfurt region. The new HyPerformer regions will each receive up to €15 million in the form of investment grants for the purchase of hydrogen applications in the transport sector to implement the regional hydrogen concepts. A total budget of 131 million euros is planned. The approach in the regions covers the entire value chain of hydrogen in the transport sector: from production to storage, distribution and refueling infrastructure to applications, such as buses, municipal utility vehicles, trucks or cars.
About the HyPerformer Rhine-Ruhr Region
The HyPerformer Rhine-Ruhr region includes the area of the "Ruhr Regionalverband" and the hydrogen region of Düssel.Rhein.Wupper. It is a densely populated area with more than seven million inhabitants and a very high traffic density.
The companies involved in this region are: BP, Düsseldorf Airport, E.ON Hydrogen, H2 Mobility, Raiffeisen Gas, Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, Stadtwerke Wuppertal, VoltH2 and Air Liquide.
The investment projects to be funded are based on preliminary studies by HyExperts Emscher-Lippe and the City of Essen and the model region Hydrogen Mobility NRW Düssel.Rhein.Wupper. The projects are intended to connect hydrogen refueling facilities so that heavy transport can be adequately supplied without problems and without detours.
Specifically, electrolysers and refueling stations are planned in Düsseldorf, Wuppertal, Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Dorsten. The project also includes a hydrogen refueling station at Düsseldorf airport for hydrogen-powered vehicles and aircraft, as well as smaller 1 MW electrolysers at each waste incineration plant in Düsseldorf and Wuppertal to supply existing refueling stations with green hydrogen. Among other things, Wuppertal will run buses on this hydrogen. VoltH2 provides two electrolysers of 10 MW each, whose hydrogen will also serve public transport and heavy haulage.
The proposed refueling stations are located at major transportation hubs or clusters. Some refueling stations are zoned so that they can later connect to a pipeline, which in turn will simplify provisioning. There will also be two mobile refueling stations to encourage transportation companies and fleet operators to deploy a fleet of hydrogen-powered vehicles in variable locations.
Thanks to the expansion of the network of hydrogen refueling stations, across municipal borders, companies will have sufficient guarantees for a conversion to climate-friendly vehicles. At the same time, the growing number of hydrogen-powered vehicles provides an incentive for investors to set up even more refueling stations. In this way, the HyPerformer subsidy supports the start-up phase, leading to a self-reinforcing process. The subsidized refueling stations are expected to be established starting in 2024.
All projects are aimed at making heavy freight transport, which is particularly intensive in the densely populated Rhine-Ruhr region, climate-friendly. This will significantly reduce the remarkably high CO2 emissions in the region and thus make a relevant contribution to achieving the imposed climate goals.
The project is supported by more than a hundred transport companies, hydrogen networks, research institutions and municipalities. The investment volume is about €81 million with funding of €15 million (NIP 2) and €15 million (Land North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)). The office for the project is hosted by the Ruhr Regionalverband Ruhr as part of the Hydrogen Metropole Ruhr initiative. The selection as a HyPerformer region underlines the importance of the Ruhr region as a model for expanding the hydrogen economy.
