HydrOxy Hub Walsum

Introduction

The HydrOxy Hub Walsum project aims to develop, build, and operate an innovative, large-scale Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) electrolyser. The electrolyser will have a 157.2 megawatt (MW) capacity and will be located in the middle of one of Europe's most heavily industrialised areas – in Duisburg-Walsum, Germany. HydrOxy will significantly contribute to establishing hydrogen as one of Europe’s main decarbonisation pillars.

Renewable Energy Source

The project will contract a newly built wind park in the North Sea to source the renewable electricity required to produce 16 kilo tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year. Electrolyser off-heat will also be utilised in the district heating sector. The project is expected to achieve 113% of relative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions avoidance compared to the reference scenario.

Importance of Hydrogen

Hydrogen is crucial for the transition to a post-fossil fuel era. Yet, intermittent renewable energy poses challenges in maintaining a constant hydrogen supply. Therefore, HydrOxy goes beyond the state-of-the-art by integrating a large battery system of 25 MW to decouple the hydrogen generation from the fluctuating renewable energy generation.

Benefits of Battery Integration

This will result in:

• Higher security of supply
• Higher annual electrolyser operating hours
• Reduced degradation of the electrolyser
• Increased service life and efficiency

Cross-Sector Decarbonisation

In a cross-sector decarbonisation approach, the renewable hydrogen from HydrOxy will be used in:

1. The steel sector (contributing to steel production through Direct Reduced Iron technology)
2. The shipping sector at an industrial scale

The hydrogen produced by HydrOxy will be directly used in the port of Duisburg for the first climate-neutral container terminal, as well as in the hydrogen filling stations for heavy load transportation. Additionally, the electrolyser’s renewable off-heat will be utilised in decarbonising an existing district heating network located nearby.

GHG Emission Avoidance

With the delivery of 13.6 kilo tonnes per annum of green hydrogen to a nearby steel plant, the complete project will realise an absolute GHG emission avoidance potential of nearly 1.3 million tonnes CO2 equivalent during its first ten years of operation.

Contribution to Climate Goals

The Hydroxy Hub Walsum project will directly contribute to the European objective of reaching climate neutrality by 2050, by accelerating the transition towards green hydrogen adoption in hard-to-abate sectors like shipping and steel.

Alignment with European Strategies

The project will also contribute to the objectives of:

• The European Hydrogen Strategy to develop domestic production of 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030
• The REPowerEU goal of reducing fossil fuel consumption in industry and transport and rolling out electrolyser capacity installation in Europe.

Economic Impact

The project is expected to make a significant contribution to the local and regional economy through the creation of 31 direct job positions and 800 indirect jobs, mostly in the Duisburg area.