Siemens Energy will start production of hydrogen electrolysers in Berlin. In 2023, the first gigawatt production will start at the multi-gigawatt plant.
Siemens Energy will establish the industrial production of electrolysis modules in Berlin and thus bring the centerpiece of its hydrogen technology to the capital. The start of production at the Huttenstrasse site in the Berlin town of Moabit is planned for 2023.
The entire infrastructure of an existing production hall can be used on this site. New electrolyser production lines are being installed over 2,000 m2 at a cost of around 30 million euros.
Today, the plant mainly manufactures gas turbines, among the most powerful and efficient in the world. These can already be operated with up to 50% hydrogen, and full hydrogen operation should be possible by 2030.
Siemens Energy is now bringing together its expertise in these two areas in Berlin to ensure a reliable and successful energy transition to a new energy mix. This also includes the business area of power transmission: In the switching plant of Siemens Energy in Berlin, innovative high-voltage products are produced that ensure that electricity reaches consumers reliably.
With the new hydrogen electrolyser production plant, we are strengthening our desire to play an active role in the energy transition. To this end, we pool our knowledge in the field of various energy technologies in Berlin. For us, hydrogen is an important component of the energy world of tomorrow. To be economically viable, the manufacturing costs of electrolyzers must be considerably reduced. With our new production plant, we are helping to make hydrogen competitive earlier.
Christian Bruch, CEO of Siemens Energy
At the Berlin plant, the individual cells of the electrolysers will be manufactured and combined to form functional modules or “batteries”. Depending on the capacity required, these will be assembled into larger units depending on the process.
In Germany, this last stage will take place in Mülheim, which is closely linked and perfectly complementary to the new plant in Berlin.
The critical element is that it goes into series production: Affordable and reasonably priced electrolyzers are the prerequisite for being able to meet the growing demand and future costs of hydrogen.
For this, Siemens Energy relies on PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolysis, in which water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen by means of a proton-permeable membrane and electricity from renewable sources.
The key aspects of this process are its high level of efficiency, the high quality of the gas produced and its reliable operation without chemicals or impurities. Siemens Energy’s latest and most powerful line of PEM electrolyzers are optimized for applications up to hundreds of megawatts, enabling systems of this size to generate several metric tons of green hydrogen per hour. The electricity used in the manufacture of the electrolyzers will come entirely from renewable sources.
Contents
Hydrogen as a key element of decarbonization.
Green hydrogen, generated from renewable energies, is a key element in the substitution of fossil fuels for renewable energies.
Hydrogen can serve as a storage medium and also as feedstock for other applications, including synthetic fuels.
But hydrogen molecules can also be used directly as an energy source to produce electricity and heat, which until now depended on gas. Combined with a massive expansion of renewable energies, this is a way to ensure the success of the energy transition.
The ways of producing green hydrogen and its by-products are known; the task now is to adapt production to industrial volumes. Powerful electrolysers of the type soon to be built in Berlin will be the centerpiece of hydrogen technology.
Via siemens-energy.com