A network of companies in Lower Saxony is planning hydrogen projects in the Osnabrück region. Georgsmarienhütte, KME Germany, Q1 Energie, EWE and the Kompetenznetz Individuallogistik (KNI) e. V. are among them. The initiative has now presented an initial feasibility study. It recommends the construction of an H2 plant at the KME site with oxygen and heat utilization, and hydrogen is also to be used in other industrial and mobility projects.
The first feasibility study of the Osnabrück H2 Alliance, which was founded in October 2022, is intended to serve as a basis for further project work. It was prepared by the hydrogen producer Apex Group and the engineering firm Plant Engineering. With the results of the feasibility study, energy supplier EWE now also wants to start acquiring funding.
Among other things, the partners plan to build a hydrogen plant with a truck filling station. It is to guarantee the mobile supply of a hydrogen filling station planned by Q1. In addition, the steel manufacturer Georgsmarienhütte and the copper processor KME Germany are planning to connect their plants to the hydrogen plant.
Hydrogen-based sector coupling
For KME, the electrolyzer would offer several advantages: Accordingly, the oxygen from the electrolysis process could be stored on the company's premises and used for copper processing.
The heat also generated during the electrolysis process could be heated to a higher temperature level by means of a heat pump and then used at the KME site or fed into a local district heating network.
In a first expansion step, an electrolysis plant with a capacity of up to 15 MW could be built here and then scaled up further.
According to EWE project developer Dr. Dennis Wenzel, the total investment in the infrastructure project amounts to over €30 million. The intention is to wait until funding has been secured before implementing the project.
The Osnabrück H2 Alliance is complemented by other plans of the GMH Group and EWE. A few weeks ago, the companies signed a memorandum of understanding on the use of green hydrogen in steel production. Production at GMH is to be climate-neutral by 2039.
