LEAG bags EUR-45m EU funds for German hydrogen, storage project

Energy company LEAG has secured about EUR 45 million (USD 49m) in EU funding to develop a 40-MW hydrogen production and storage complex near a coal-fired power plant in eastern Germany's mining region Lusatia.

The funding notice was handed over at the Jaenschwalde energy site in Brandenburg by the federal state's energy minister Joerg Steinbach to LEAG's chief executive Thorsten Kramer. The financing is provided through the EU's Just Transition Fund (JTF).

Do you know we have a daily hydrogen newsletter? Subscribe here for free!

The funds will support the construction of a 40-MW electrolysis plant and a thermal storage facility at the Jaenschwalde site. Under the plan, in addition to the hydrogen production plant, LEAG will build a hydrogen storage facility capable of storing 12 tonnes of hydrogen and a solid heat storage facility with a capacity of 1,000 MWh. The storage capacity will provide additional flexibility so that green hydrogen can be made available for industry and mobility as part of sector coupling.

The hydrogen project in Jaenschwalde is part of LEAG's GigawattFactory concept which involves the deployment of 7 GW of renewables by 2030 and 14 GW by 2040, combined with storage technologies and the development of hydrogen-ready power plants for a reliable and demand-oriented supply of green electricity.

In June, LEAG received EUR 58 million from the JTF for the development of a large-scale hydrogen production and storage complex at its Boxberg site, in the state of Saxony.