Energy-powered kids' footwear
In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), a significant shift towards a climate-neutral energy future is underway. The region, traditionally reliant on lignite, is making strides in expanding renewable energy capacity and developing hydrogen infrastructure.
Key developments include:
- Expansion of wind power capacity: Projects like RWE's Königshovener Höhe wind farm are being enlarged to 90 MW, alongside the Aldenhoven wind farm (34 MW), both on recultivated former mining areas. These wind farms generate the "green" electricity that fuels electrolysis for hydrogen production.
- Hydrogen storage infrastructure: Germany's first commercial hydrogen storage facility is under construction at Gronau-Epe. It will have two caverns with a total storage capacity of around 38 million cubic meters and injection/withdrawal rates of 50,000 cubic meters per hour. The facility, set to begin operations in mid-2026, will buffer intermittent renewable generation to supply hydrogen on demand.
- Strategic regional innovation ecosystem: A dense cooperative network involving research institutions, industrial firms, and government bodies supports hydrogen technology development and commercialization in NRW. Initiatives like GET H2 Nukleus demonstrate efforts to build an integrated hydrogen supply chain to decarbonize heavy industries.
- Sources of green electricity: The "green" electricity powering hydrogen production primarily comes from onshore wind farms such as Königshovener Höhe and Aldenhoven, which utilize repurposed open-cast mining sites for turbines. Solar energy also contributes to the renewable electricity mix, though the bulk is currently wind-based.
- Industrial and innovation hubs: Facilities like Brainergy Park Jülich provide infrastructure and clustering for companies focused on renewable energy and hydrogen, leveraging Germany's largest hydrogen infrastructure cluster. This enhances access to carbon-neutral electricity and hydrogen technologies for startups and international partners.
However, the source of the "green" electricity for the conversion process, initiated by Minister President Wüst, was not specified. The specific location for the conversion remains undisclosed.
The goal of covering 80% of electricity consumption with renewable energy sources is still a distant target in NRW. To help expedite this transition, coal-fired power plants in the Rhine region are scheduled to be shut down as soon as possible by 2030.
In addition, biomass and wind power still make up the largest share of renewable energy sources in NRW. The melting of the sands at 1,500 degrees Celsius for glass production at the Saint-Gobain site consumes as much energy as a small city uses in a year - around 450 gigawatt-hours. The French company Saint-Gobain, which produces flat glass for construction and windshields for the automotive industry in Herzogenrath, is planning to convert its site to green hydrogen production by 2030, with an own hydrogen production and electrolyzer to be built on site for future process energy.
It is important to note that this article does not provide any information on societal developments, culinary arts, art, or culture in Neuss. Furthermore, details about the nature or scope of the conversion, the privacy policy for the newsletter, and information on how to subscribe to the newsletter were not provided in the article.
[1] RWE. (2021). Königshovener Höhe wind farm. Retrieved from https://www.rwe.com/en/wind/projects/details/de/windfarm/koenigshoeven-hoehe/
[2] Hydrogen Storage Germany. (2021). Gronau-Epe. Retrieved from https://www.h2-storage.de/en/projects/gronau-epe/
[3] GET H2 Nukleus. (2021). About us. Retrieved from https://geth2nukleus.de/en/about-us/
[4] Brainergy Park Jülich. (2021). About us. Retrieved from https://brainergy-park.de/en/about-us/
- The expansion of renewable energy capacity in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) includes enlarging the Königshovener Höhe wind farm to 90 MW, which generates "green" electricity for hydrogen production as part of the renewable energy sources for the region.
- The finance sector plays a crucial role in the shift towards a climate-neutral energy future in NRW, as demonstrated by the French company Saint-Gobain's plan to invest in converting its site to green hydrogen production by 2030, with an own hydrogen production and electrolyzer to be built on site for future process energy.
- In the context of NRW's transition towards renewable energy, environmental science plays a significant role in developing hydrogen infrastructure, as seen in initiatives like GET H2 Nukleus, which works towards building an integrated hydrogen supply chain to decarbonize heavy industries.
