RWE and Westfalen plan hydrogen filling station network

05/11/2023

Source: Energy & Management Powernews

By 2030, the energy supplier and the Westphalia Group want to massively expand the hydrogen filling station infrastructure. The focus is on North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.

The first hydrogen filling station is to go into operation as early as 2024, with up to 69 more to follow by 2030: The energy provider RWE and the Westfalen Group want to build a national hydrogen refueling station network for heavy commercial vehicles. The initial focus will be on North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, the two companies said.

For the development of the refueling stations, RWE and Westphalia want to establish a joint venture - subject to antitrust review - before the end of 2023. The first public hydrogen filling station of the joint venture would then be built in front of the site of RWE's Emsland gas-fired power plant in Lingen (Lower Saxony). From 2024, trucks as well as buses, refuse collection vehicles, vans and cars should be able to fill up with green hydrogen there.

The plant, which will be operated by Westfalen, will have a trailer filling station so that tankers can also deliver green hydrogen to other customers in the region. The green hydrogen for the refueling station and filling station will initially be produced in a 14-MW pilot electrolysis plant that RWE is also currently building on the site of the Emsland gas-fired power plant.

The expansion of the network is then to be carried out in coordination with logistics companies from the respective region. The first sites are planned in the vicinity of logistics centers, after which the company also wants to build sites along highways.

The German Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport is funding the construction of the hydrogen filling station in Lingen with more than 6 million euros as part of the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Innovation Program.

Author: Katia Meyer-Tien