Hamburg Moorburg has something. Something that other sites don't have. Where coal delivered energy yesterday, in the near future, green hydrogen will be produced from renewable energy sources and therefore energy for mobility, heat, process gas or natural gas replacement. Because here, in the heart of the port of Hamburg, we use wind and solar power to split water into hydrogen and oxygen in a large electrolyser. The Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub (HGHH) is one of the first projects worldwide to decarbonize an entire port economy. Industry and transport in particular have a high demand for zero-carbon hydrogen energy. If all permits are granted on time, commercial hydrogen production can begin in 2027.
Wind does not always blow, and the sun rarely shines at night. Those who rely on renewable energy need a storage solution. The requirements are high: The storage must be able to store long-term, transport energy and be usable in all sectors, such as industry, mobility and energy. No energy carrier is as versatile and flexible as hydrogen. Generated with renewable energy, hydrogen can decarbonize industries and drive clean electric motors. It can be blended with natural gas and fed into the existing grid or processed in a further step towards synthetic natural gas (SNG) - a potential substitute for natural gas in many areas - from mobility to heat for residential buildings to power generation in gas-fired power plants.
The energy transition means a complete transformation of the energy system. Our climate targets influence all areas of life. We want to make it the best for Hamburg. Hydrogen technology creates and secures sustainable jobs and new potential for value creation. With the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub we support the energy transition and the transformation of chemicals, industry, heat supply and mobility towards more sustainability in Hamburg and the North. You want to talk to us? We are looking forward to it.
A successful hydrogen economy can only be built with close European cooperation. This is the only way we can create the necessary infrastructure to serve the major European economies and compete on international markets. By forging alliances, we can make hydrogen a success story. The EU Hydrogen Strategy plans for the use of hydrogen in sectors that are hard to decarbonise through increased energy efficiency and direct electrification. Heavy transport and industry are the key focus points. In order to develop a European hydrogen market, it is particularly important to establish uniform definitions and a trading system for renewable and decarbonised gases. In order to ensure that enough green hydrogen will be available in the long term, the expansion of renewable energy must urgently be further promoted at the European level as well. Offshore wind energy offers a particularly great potential in this context — an area where a joint European approach makes eminent sense.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck presented the funding decisions in Berlin today for two significant hydrogen projects in Hamburg: Hamburger Energiewerke (HEnW) and its project partner Luxcara will receive funding for the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub (HGHH) project. Together, they are building a 100 MW electrolyzer for green hydrogen on the site of the former Moorburg coal-fired power plant. Gasnetz Hamburg, the municipal network operator, is receiving funding for the construction of the first 40 kilometers of the HH-WIN hydrogen distribution network. The Federal Government and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg are jointly providing over 250 million euros of funding for both projects.
Luxcara and Hamburger Energiewerke will establish the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub at the Hamburg-Moorburg power plant site. Here, wind and solar power will become green hydrogen. The plan is to build an electrolyser with a capacity of 100 megawatts and the potential for further expansion. It supplies hydrogen to industries and the port as well as applications in transport in Hamburg and the surrounding area.
Luxcara is an independent asset manager offering equity and debt investment opportunities to international investors in the global clean energy market. The Hamburg based company was founded in 2009 and acquires, structures, finances and operates clean energy infrastructure projects as a long-term buy-and-hold investor. Luxcara’s longstanding focus on un-subsidized markets has made the company of one Europe’s most prominent investors in projects with long-term power purchase agreements. The company’s portfolio includes clean infrastructure across Europe with a total capacity of around 6 GW and an investment volume of about EUR 6 bn. This track record, dating back to 2009, makes Luxcara one of the continent’s most experienced asset managers for clean energy investments.
Hamburger Energiewerke is a municipal company that supplies around 500,000 residential units in Hamburg with local district heating for heating and hot water. By 2030, the company wants to completely dispense with heat from coal combustion and is relying primarily on the consistent use of existing waste heat from industry, waste water, waste recycling - and in the future from electrolysis. The company supplies a heat output of around 1,800 megawatts through the 850-kilometre-long pipeline system and achieves a heat sales volume of 4,000 gigawatt hours. Its share of the Hamburg heating market is about 25 per cent.
