Siemens Energy bags electrolyser contract from Germany's EWE

Siemens Energy has been awarded a contract to supply a 280MW electrolysis system by German utility EWE.

The system will be installed in a plant in the German city of Emden, and will provide up to 26,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually for various industrial applications in the region.

The electrolysis plant is part of EWE's large-scale hydrogen project “Clean Hydrogen Coastline”, which consists of four sub-projects. The electrolyser represents the core of the Emden hydrogen production plant, which, including other necessary components such as compressors and cooling systems, has an average power consumption of 320MW over its entire lifetime.

In addition to supplying the electrolyser, EWE and Siemens Energy have agreed on a ten-year service contract.

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"EWE is active along the entire value chain with its hydrogen projects, from production to transportation and storage. Our choice of location in north-west Germany and our decision to work with Siemens Energy means that we are focusing on both regional and national value creation,” said EWE CEO Stefan Dohler in a release.

The German government and the European Commission had classified the project as a strategic funding measure, an IPCEI project (Important Project of Common European Interest). The funding decision for this project was handed over to EWE last week at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.

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“This project is an important element in the ramp-up of the green hydrogen industry in Germany,” says Anne-Laure de Chammard, member of the Executive Board of Siemens Energy.

"With the long-awaited funding commitments, the German government has placed the final piece of the puzzle to realize strategically important projects like this on a large scale. The immediate conclusion of the contract with EWE demonstrates that the industry is ready to swiftly implement these projects."

The electrolyser from Siemens Energy is based on PEM technology, which uses electricity to split water into its components hydrogen and oxygen along the proton exchange membrane. This technology is particularly suitable for operation with renewable energies due to the very flexible ramp-up times.

The stacks - the heart of the electrolysers - are manufactured in the new gigawatt factory at Siemens Energy's Berlin site.