Heinsberg hydrogen project H2HS underway

The company is building and operating a 2 MW electrolyser including a hydrogen refuelling station at the Heinsberg-Oberbruch industrial park. The required renewable electricity is produced by local wind and solar energy plants. In a first step, 70 tpy of green hydrogen will be produced for the operation of 12 WestVerkehr fuel cell buses. Green hydrogen production can be increased to over 200 tpy if required, and there are also plans to expand the plant if there is further demand from the surrounding industry. The entire hydrogen value chain is thus kept in the region, a unique selling point of this project.

“Hydrogen is an international megatrend. But we are showing that you do not have to wait for such megatrends to develop, you can be involved right from the start and make a regional and local contribution,” said Dr. Stefanie Kesting, Managing Director at NEUMAN & ESSER.

NEUMAN & ESSER supplies all components for green hydrogen production and the hydrogen refuelling station to the H2HS project. This includes a 2 MW NEA|HYTRON PEM electrolyser for the production of green hydrogen, a NEA|HOFER MKZ diaphragm compressor, a stationary H2-storage in order to operate grid-firendly, two 350 bar dispensers for refuelling local busses and a possibility to also fill trailers. NEUMAN & ESSER is also responsible for the integration of the energy supply components, i.e. the transformers and rectifier for the electrolysis and utility components, as well as the supply of a higher-level control (DCS) system. To ensure smooth operation and high availability, NEUMAN & ESSER provides the aftermarket services also by using the NEA|XPLORE remote monitoring device developed in-house.

At the beginning of 2024, H2HS received the official funding confirmation of €1.8 million from progres.NRW. However, this was based on several years of planning and a number of milestones. The H2DE research project, for example, which forms the theoretical basis for the H2HS project, started in May 2023.

Guido Beckers, Managing Director of BMR Energy, briefly summarised the three-year project development: “Approval procedures, market, business models? Nothing was available, but we accepted the challenge.” The issues were clarified and the project is now being implemented.

As a first step, the transport sector is now being supplied with green hydrogen. Industry and the residential sector are already being considered for successful decarbonisation. Veolia Managing Director, Dr. Stefan Langer, explained: “Industry should and will come. Our project is attracting a lot of attention within the international Veolia Group.” This makes the project in Heinsberg a blueprint for further hydrogen activities, even beyond the region. “The fact that we have the right potential in the Heinsberg district to implement something like this is a real strength. But you also need the right types of entrepreneurs who are prepared to go the extra mile,” concluded WFG Managing Director, Ulrich Schirowski. These companies have come together in Heinsberg and will supply the region with green hydrogen in the future.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/01102024/heinsberg-hydrogen-project-h2hs-underway/