FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Eastern German gas company VNG, majority-owned by utility EnBW, said on Wednesday it will start test operations at a 30 megawatts (MW) electrolysis plant in the third quarter of 2025 as the basis of a new green hydrogen value chain.
VNG intensified a green gases strategy, along with alternative gas procurements, to replace former supplier Russia, which in 2022 turned off export taps to the West, hitting VNG’s business as much as those of its big peers SEFE and Uniper.
“We have scheduled the commissioning and trial operation of the 30 MW electrolyser in the third quarter,” said technical director Hans-Joachim Polk in a company statement.
The plant, situated in Bad Lauchstaedt in Saxony-Anhalt state, will produce green hydrogen from power derived from local wind turbines and dedicated to the purpose of supplying the nearby Leuna chemicals and oil park with TotalEnergies as VNG’s anchor customer.
When produced with renewable electricity through the electrolysis of water, rather than by stripping it from natural gas and releasing carbon dioxide, hydrogen is a greener fuel, as it leaves only water and oxygen as byproducts when burned.
“The plant will subsequently feed 2,700 tonnes of green hydrogen annually into the grid, for delivery for commercial use to… TotalEnergies’ refinery,” Polk said.
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(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Kirsti Knolle)
