Stadtwerke Stuttgart is building hydrogen production and transportation infrastructure in the Neckar valley.
The city is becoming a model region for hydrogen. Up to 1,000 tons of green hydrogen are to be produced each year in the new Green Hydrogen Hub Stuttgart – using excess green electricity. At the same time, the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub is being built in Hamburg to supply green hydrogen to the port industry.
Stadtwerke Stuttgart (SWS), the city’s utilities, is planning an innovative hydrogen project at the port of Stuttgart: a production site for green hydrogen. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025, and the plant is expected to be operational by the end of 2026. At the Green Hydrogen Hub Stuttgart (GH2S), four electrolyzers will generate up to 1,000 tons of high-purity hydrogen, using only green electricity. They will mainly run when there is an oversupply of renewable energy from solar and wind power plants.
The electrolyzers have an installed capacity of up to 10 megawatts and are primarily intended to be used at times of excess renewable energy availability. This will require the use of AI and a digital twin of the plant. As an added benefit, using excess renewable energy will also help stabilize local power grids.
In the heavily industrialized region of Stuttgart, there is a high demand for high-purity hydrogen because it is perfect for fuel cells. This is why SWS focuses its hydrogen project on the public and heavy-duty transportation sector, as well as research and development of fuel cells, which is expected to be the main buyer of the product.
The goal of the project is to establish a stable hydrogen production and transportation infrastructure in the Neckar valley. The Green Hydrogen Hub Stuttgart project is based on the joint venture H2 GeNeSiS, which is funded by the EU and the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector Baden-Württemberg. There will also be a hydrogen pipeline connecting the cities of Esslingen and Stuttgart, supplying customers along the route with green hydrogen.
Decarbonization of an entire port industry
Another hydrogen project is taking shape in Hamburg. On the site of the former coal-fired Moorburg power plant, the companies Luxcara and Hamburger Energiewerke are planning to build a 100-megawatt electrolyzer to produce green hydrogen. It is also set to include a trailer station for transporting the green hydrogen.
This project, known as the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub, is one of the first in the world that aims to decarbonize an entire port industry. This site will also produce green hydrogen using power from renewables to provide energy for mobility, heat, process gases or as replacement for natural gas. Commercial hydrogen production is expected to start in 2027.
The project is one of 23 hydrogen projects in Germany, which are funded by the EU and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) Hydrogen’s third wave, Hy2Infra. The sponsored projects are expected to produce green hydrogen using electrolyzers with a total capacity of up to 1.4 gigawatts. They are therefore playing a key role in building a core hydrogen network that will enable a fast and cost-effective hydrogen transportation network in Germany by 2032.
