It is considered one of the largest industrial hydrogen projects of its kind in Germany and Europe to date and is a joint project of EWE, swb and ArcelorMittal Bremen.
Bremer Wasserstoff GmbH, the company responsible for the project, has now awarded a contract worth millions for the construction of the “HyBit centerpiece” – a ten-megawatt electrolysis plant for hydrogen production at the Bremen Mittelsbüren power plant site. The Rostock-based hydrogen system integrator APEX GROUP was commissioned to do this, and the corresponding contract has now been signed. In addition, Bremer Wasserstoff GmbH has just signed a hydrogen supply contract with ArcelorMittal Bremen.
HyBit stands for Hydrogen for Bremens industrial transformation and marks the start of decarbonization of steel production in Bremen. The aim of HyBit is to produce green hydrogen at the swb power plant site in Bremen Mittelsbüren by means of electrolysis. This will be used for pig iron production and processing at Arcelor Mittal’s steel mill as well as for future mobility applications.
This will save tons of CO2. The plant is scheduled to come on stream in 2024. The Hybit project involves an investment volume of over 20 million euros. Ten million of this is a grant from the state of Bremen. “Following the handover of the funding decision in December, the successful award of the contract today is an important milestone for climate protection in Bremen and for securing industrial employment. HyBit is the prelude and the impetus for the development as a hydrogen location and the transformation of steel production.
I am particularly pleased that this project is being implemented with determination despite the global crisis developments. With HyBit, Bremen will become a new location on the map for the production of hydrogen and of green steel,” said Bremen’s Senator for Economic Affairs Kristina Vogt.
“With the signing of the contracts, the foundation has now been laid to make a German hydrogen showcase project a reality,” said Dr. Timo di Nardo, one of the two managing directors of Bremer Wasserstoff GmbH, in which EWE and swb each hold a 50 percent stake, along with Dr. Thomas Kalkau. “The project is particularly important at this time, when efforts to achieve greater energy independence are in full swing against the backdrop of global political energy supplies,” adds Thomas Kalkau.
“It is part of the APEX vision to make green hydrogen competitive and widely available to everyone. We are therefore particularly pleased to be trusted with this hydrogen showcase project, explains APEX CEO Peter Rößner.
“The construction of the electrolysis plant marks the starting point for the use of green hydrogen in steel production in Bremen and is thus an important building block in the decarbonization of steel production at ArcelorMittal Bremen. We will use the first hydrogen in the existing facilities, followed in the next stage by the use of new production technologies so that we can produce climate-neutral steel in Bremen by the mid-30s,” says Reiner Blaschek, Chairman of the Management Board of ArcelorMittal Bremen.
The HyBit project shows the great benefits that hydrogen has in terms of climate protection, also or especially in industrial applications, said EWE CEO Stefan Dohler. “With our Clean Hydrogen Coastline initiative and the associated construction of large-scale electrolysers and the conversion of cavern storage facilities as well as pipelines to hydrogen, we are already preparing the next major step towards a large-scale infrastructural hydrogen economy.”
swb CEO Dr. Torsten Köhne is also pleased about “this important step on the way to realizing a groundbreaking project.” “Together, with this project, we are now working in a very real way on an innovative building block to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in Bremen in the future. Helping to shape our region in a sustainable and at the same time economically successful way is what drives us. The use of hydrogen as an energy carrier will play a central role in this.”
