Topping Out Ceremony for the 30 MW Pressurized Alkaline Electrolyser Building at the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park
Bad Lauchstädt, Germany, March 21, 2024: Today's topping-out ceremony for the building of Sunfire's 30 MW large-scale electrolyser marks another milestone in the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park, just nine months after the groundbreaking ceremony.
Thomas Wünsch, State Secretary in the Ministry of Science, Energy, Climate Protection and Environment of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, wished success for the further implementation of the project: "The Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park is a central building block for the development of a competitive green hydrogen economy in Central Germany. With this lighthouse project, Saxony-Anhalt is promoted to the Champions League. On the one hand, we benefit from the good hydrogen expertise and infrastructure in the country and, on the other hand, from the high level of expansion of renewable energies. The project is groundbreaking for the link between climate protection and economic development."
The structural work is continuing, the cable ducts are being pulled and the earthworks are being completed. The second half of the year will see the start of delivery and first installation steps of Sunfire's 30 MW alkaline pressurized electrolyser.
"It is great to see that the piece of flat ground on which we broke ground as a consortium together with the Prime Ministers of Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony only 9 months ago now clearly shows the operation place of the electrolyzer. In addition, I can also see the first of the 8 wind turbines in motion from here. This means that the first part of our value chain in the project, hydrogen production from green wind power, is now becoming more and more tangible," says Cornelia Müller-Pagel, project manager in the consortium.
About the project:
The Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park is a real-world laboratory for the intelligent production of green hydrogen, as well as its storage, transport and use. For the first time, the entire green hydrogen value chain will be tested on an industrial scale for energy transition. Sunfire's 30 MW electrolysis plant will produce green hydrogen using renewable energy from the local wind farm. Stored in a specially constructed salt cavern, the green hydrogen can be fed into the hydrogen network of the chemical industry in central Germany via a converted gas pipeline. The hydrogen can be used in the future for urban mobility solutions. This laboratory will help to research and develop future technologies for green hydrogen - enabeling a high-tech and future-oriented hydrogen region in Central Germany and a successful sector coupling in Germany. The project partners investing a total of 210 million euros, including 34 million euros from the 7th Energy Research Programme of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) for the "real laboratory of the energy transition".
Click here to read the detailed press release (German only)
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Images by © Rico Thumser