The Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub’s partners, especially Shell, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Vattenfall, and the municipal corporation Wärme Hamburg, can remain confident about securing EU financing to carry out their ambitions.
The Hamburg project has been shortlisted by the German Federal Ministry of Economics for funding under the EU’s “Important Projects of Common European Interest” (IPCEI) initiative.
The shortlist consists of 62 projects selected from an initial pool of approximately 200 projects that applied for funding through the IPCEI initiative. The HH-WIN project, led by the Hamburg gas network, is also on the short list. It will establish the pipeline infrastructure necessary for hydrogen transportation in Hamburg.
Shell, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Vattenfall, and the municipal corporation Wärme Hamburg are exploring ways to create hydrogen from wind and solar energy on the site of the Hamburg-Moorburg power plant and use it in the area. Along with the construction of a scalable electrolyser with an initial output of 100 megawatts, the site will be developed into a “Green Energy Hub.”
This involves determining the extent to which the Moorburg location’s current infrastructure can be leveraged to generate energy from renewable sources. Additionally, designs for the essential logistical chains and hydrogen storage alternatives will be addressed in this context. Subject to final investment decision and current planning, production of green hydrogen is expected to begin in the second half of 2025, making the electrolyser one of the largest in Europe.
The four partner companies believe that the energy site is perfect for future use. It is connected to both the national 380,000-volt transmission network and the City of Hamburg’s 110,000-volt network. Additionally, foreign ships may call directly at the area and utilize the quay and port facilities as an import terminal.
Additionally, the municipal gas utility aims to build a hydrogen network in the port within the next decade and is already constructing the necessary distribution infrastructure. Numerous prospective clients for green hydrogen are located nearby, allowing the project to cover the complete hydrogen value chain – from generation to storage, transportation, and use in various sectors.
With these conditions in place, the Moorburg location is ideal for the German federal state of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and Northern Germany, and might serve as a jumping-off point for the creation of a hydrogen economy.
