Siemens Smart Infrastructure is partnering with WUN H2 GmbH to build the facility in Wunsiedel, in northern Bavaria and close to the Czech border—and right next to Siemens’ manufactured battery storage facility. The plant will run entirely on renewable energy, primarily from solar and wind.
As for power capacity, the plant will have a power intake of six megawatts in the initial development phase. In its first phase of production the facility will be able to produce over 900 tons of hydrogen per year—and when its expansion is completed, that number will rise to a capacity of 2,000 tons annually. The groundbreaking. which will take place at the end of 2020, is expected to be online by the end of 2021.
“We want to achieve locally already today what Germany is targeting for 2050, namely a complete energy transition across all sectors,” said Uwe Bartmann, chief executive officer of Siemens Germany.
The plant will generate power via the use of electrolyzers that will extract hydrogen gas from water. The facility plant will use Siemens’ Silyzer 300 polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer, which employs a specialized solid plastic as its electrolyte.
Currently, about 96 per cent of global hydrogen production uses steam reforming of methane, which runs on non-renewable fossil fuels, to generate the hydrogen. PEM electrolysis promises to be a real game-changer because its electrolytic reactions can be powered by renewable resources; in fact, it can generate storable H2 when solar and wind power provide more power than is needed. And at the Wunsiedel site, the oxygen and low-temperature waste heat generated by the Silyzer will be repurposed by nearby industrial facilities.
Siemens’ Silyzer PEM water electrolysis system.
While certainly promising, the PEM electrolysis still needs some refinement if it’s going to compete with conventional hydrogen production methods. It’s more expensive than alkaline-based electrolyzers and requires more energy. However, PEM electrolysis machinery has the advantage of compact design, higher current density, a smaller footprint, and that it can operate at lower temperatures—as well as the advantage of producing oxygen as a by-product. Reducing the cost of production while maintaining the technology’s efficiency is a key target for making PEM more commercially competitive.
With the Wunsiedel facility, Siemens is taking the forefront as a green energy provider—and will significantly contribute to Germany’s goal of becoming greenhouse gas-neutral by 2050.
Read more about the potential of hydrogen as a carbon-neutral energy source at Green Hydrogen—Powering a Sustainable Future.