The Heide oil refinery has decided to use green hydrogen. However, the “West Coast 100” electrolysis plant project was prematurely terminated three years after the project began. Raffinerie Heide, Ørsted Germany and Hynamics Germany have announced that they will not build an electrolyser. More than three years ago, they joined forces as “H2 Westküste GmbH” to produce green hydrogen on the premises of the industrial plant in Hemmingstedt. The main reason for the decision against the 30-megawatt plant is the high construction costs, the companies said in a press release (NDR: 17.11.23).

Green hydrogen plant in Heide stopped prematurely – economic profitability not given despite millions in funding

Since 2020, the project has been funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy with 36 million euros as part of the “Living Labs of the Energy Transition” program. About one million euros of this was spent, according to a spokeswoman for H2 Westküste GmbH. The state government supported the project as part of its hydrogen strategy. Despite the subsidies, the economic viability of the plant for green hydrogen production on an industrial scale is not given, according to the investor consortium.

Environment Minister Tobias Goldschmidt (Greens) emphasized that the “large electrolyser project” called “Hyscale 100” is still running and is supported by the state government. Hyscale 100 is more than three times larger than West Coast 100 and is still in the planning stages.

The managing director of the Heide refinery, Roland Kühl, would like to use the knowledge gained from the research project. The goal is to decarbonize the refinery and promote the green hydrogen economy on the West Coast.

Green hydrogen: Project in Heide failed

Ørsted, an offshore wind company from Denmark, also planned to take a stake in the plant in Heide. However, Jörg Kubitza, Managing Director of Germany, emphasized that such projects depend on their economic viability, which is not the case in this case. The costs must be right and a market must be created, which is not the case in this case. Hynamics Germany, a subsidiary of Electricite De France, was the third partner in the consortium.

Stadtwerke Heide planned to participate in Westküste 100 as a regional energy supplier. Their focus was on the “Green Heating” sub-project, in which green hydrogen was to be mixed with natural gas. This project has now also been discontinued due to the demolition of the electrolysis plant.

Andreas Hein, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Stadtwerke Heide, was disappointed and criticized the lack of a legal framework for such projects and the fact that little progress had been made on the topic of green hydrogen than three years ago.

Originally published by Blackout News.