LEAG secures EUR 58m from EU for hydrogen, storage complex in Germany

German energy company LEAG has secured about EUR 58 million (USD 63.01m) in EU funding to develop a large-scale hydrogen production and storage complex in eastern Germany's mining region Lusatia.

The funding notice for the H2UB Boxberg project was handed over by Saxony's State Minister for Regional Development, Thomas Schmidt, to LEAG's board member, Joerg Waniek, on Tuesday.

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The financing is extended under the EU's Just Transition Fund (JTF).

The planned energy complex in Boxberg, a municipality in the eastern federal state of Saxony, will include an electrolyser with a capacity to produce around two tonnes of hydrogen per hour and a storage facility with a capacity of 60 tonnes.

The hydrogen will be converted into electricity using a fuel cell.

The hydrogen power plant will initially have a capacity of 10 MW, with the potential to expand to 500 MW by adding more fuel cells and hydrogen turbines. Facilities for supplying hydrogen to industrial customers are also planned.

Adjacent to the hydrogen power plant, a GigaBattery storage park will be built as part of the H2UB Boxberg project. By 2030, it is expected to reach 1,250 MWh of storage capacity, utilising three battery technologies: 500 MW/500 MWh of lithium-ion batteries, 50 MW/500 MWh of iron redox flow batteries, and 50 MW/250 MWh of solid-flow batteries.

The complex is planned to commence operations in 2029.

H2UB Boxberg is part of LEAG's GigawattFactory programme, which aims to add 7 GW of green electricity generation by 2030 and up to 14 GW by 2040 in the Lusatia region. Investments in expanding storage capacity and developing hydrogen-capable power plants are central to the transformation of the company and the region.