Burgenland Energie and VERBUND launch cooperation for independence from international suppliers and fossil energy sources.
Austria’s largest electrolyzer to date will be built in Burgenland. From 300 MW of wind and solar energy, 40,000 tons of green hydrogen will be produced at full capacity. This makes the project – initiated by Burgenland Energie together with VERBUND and partners – one of the largest hydrogen projects in Europe.
In a joint press conference, Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler, Governor Hans Peter Doskozil, VERBUND CEO Michael Strugl and Burgendland Energie CEO Stephan Sharma presented the joint plans. Green hydrogen is an important step towards energy independence and climate neutrality, as unanimously emphasized.
Green hydrogen is an important building block on the way to climate neutrality
The high-quality energy carrier can be used in a variety of ways and enables decarbonization, especially in industry, where fossil fuels often cannot be directly replaced by electricity. It can also play a role as storage in the future, as well as in niche mobility applications.
“We currently feel quite clearly how dangerous our dependence on energy imports is. That’s why we will increasingly rely on domestic production for green hydrogen. Just a few weeks ago, we laid the foundation stone with our hydrogen strategy. Today we can already present our first project. This is an important and big step,” said Minister Gewessler. The joint initiative of the two domestic energy companies is an important building block in the federal government’s hydrogen strategy and an excellent signal, she added. “The federal government can create framework conditions, but they have to be used locally. I am very pleased that Burgenland, Burgenland Energie and VERBUND have found committed pioneers here, who also present a clear plan and a positive perspective for an industry fit for the future.”
Burgenland as a pioneer in renewable energy
Governor Hans Peter Doskozil referred to the history of Burgenland, from which a special claim for the future is also derived: “Burgenland was already a pioneer in renewable energy in the 1990s. In the absence of fossil energy resources, the first wind turbines were installed in Austria at that time. Today, we are also focusing on the massive expansion of photovoltaics. Our ambitious goal is to become climate-neutral by 2030, i.e. in eight years.” To achieve this ambitious goal, he said, it will take a concerted effort by all stakeholders, an acceleration of procedures and the courage to be pioneers.
“We need to make full use of the potential offered by solar and wind power. This includes the possibility of producing green hydrogen. Verbund is an important partner here. When fully developed, the plant can cover more than ten percent of the republic’s total gas demand, without any CO2 emissions,” the provincial governor said. This protects the climate, but is also an important step towards the necessary independence from gas from Russia. “Our goal is not only to become climate-neutral but also energy self-sufficient by 2030, i.e. to cover all energy needs from our own sources. In the longer term, this will also make it possible to determine the price of energy ourselves.”
Green hydrogen as a gamechanger
As a pioneer in green hydrogen, VERBUND, together with voestalpine and Siemens, has already commissioned Austria’s first PEM electrolyzer in 2019. Green hydrogen is a key pillar of the company’s strategy. VERBUND CEO Michael Strugl: “Europe is facing a turning point in the energy industry. Renewable energies are our only chance for decarbonization and independence from fossil imports – but we also need green hydrogen as a gamechanger.”
By 2040, the demand for green hydrogen in Austria will be 4 to 5 times the current total demand. This demand will be met by increasing local production, but also by hydrogen imports. Michael Strugl: “Now is the chance to put Austria in a pioneering role. This joint project takes us a big step forward towards the energy future.”
Stephan Sharma, initiator and idea provider of the project, holds: “Hydrogen is a crucial energy carrier of the future. Today we are in the biggest energy transformation since the invention of the steam engine. In a fairly short time, we will switch heating and mobility from fossil fuels to electricity. And that is good and right. Instead of burning fossil fuels, we can use renewable energies to produce electricity and use it for our needs. For that gap where electricity is not an adequate substitute, cleanly produced hydrogen is an excellent product to replace oil and gas.”
European milestone on the road to energy transition
The plant, which Burgenland Energie and VERBUND are jointly constructing in Burgenland, will be built in several stages: “From 2026, we will produce 9,000 tons of green hydrogen per year from wind and solar energy in Burgenland. In the full expansion stage by 2030, it will be 40,000 tons of hydrogen per year for Austria, which will save us 400,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually,” Sharma explains, emphasizing that this is the next highly innovative project in Burgenland on the road to energy independence. “As a green technology company, we are already a leader in electricity production from wind and solar energy in Austria. With this innovation project, we are refining Burgenland wind and solar power into hydrogen for Austria.”
In order to be able to utilize this scale of the innovative project in a correspondingly qualitative manner, it was important to enter into competent support through partnerships in terms of content, he said. “Together with VERBUND as a partner and the support of the federal and provincial governments, we are creating a project in Burgenland that sets a European milestone on the path to the energy transition in this dimension,” concludes Sharma.
