Vestas bags contract for pioneering German power-to-x project

Vestas has received a 50MW order from German energy company Energiepark Bad Lauchstädt GmbH to power the Bad Lauchstädt TerraWatt wind farm in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Touted as a world-first, the Bad Lauchstädt energy park is testing the direct coupling of wind power from a nearby wind farm with an electrolysis plant of up to 30MW.

The green hydrogen produced on site will be temporarily stored in a specially-designed salt cavern, to be fed into the hydrogen network to decarbonise regional industry and provide mobility solutions.

Renewable developer Terrawatt Planungsgesellschaft mbH could conclude the contract with Vestas after the approval process was completed earlier this year by the district of Saalekreis.

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For the wind project, Vestas will supply V162-6.2 wind turbines, each with a rated output of 6.2MW. The systems will be delivered with three different hub heights to maximise local conditions.

Tubular steel towers with a height of 119 meters will be used for two systems. The remaining six turbines with hub heights of 166 meters and 169 meters will be installed on concrete hybrid towers.

Jan Hagen, Vestas CTO Region Northern & Central Europe, said: “Power-to-x is a crucial technology on the journey towards decarbonisation and indirect electrification of ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors like heavy transport and chemical industries.

"By generating electricity from renewable and clean energy sources our technology provides the basis for connecting green electricity and hydrogen at an industrial scale.”

The delivery and installation of the wind turbines are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2024 with commissioning scheduled for the second quarter of 2024.