Steag to supply green hydrogen to transport company in western Germany

German power group Steag GmbH will supply green hydrogen from a 53-MW plant that will be built in western Germany to local public transport company Saarbahn.

Steag and Saarbahn have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the supply of green hydrogen from the HydroHub Fenne project in the town of Voelklingen, Saarland. The electrolysis plant is currently under construction at the site of Steag's gas-fired power plant Voelklingen-Fenne. Once up and running, the facility will produce up to 8,700 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year.

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Under the deal with Saarbahn, part of the plant's output will be supplied to the public transport of Saarbruecken, the capital of the state of Saarland and home to Steag's subsidiary in charge of the hydrogen project. The first deliveries are scheduled for 2026.

“As the production and consumption locations for the hydrogen are very close together here, the constellation offers almost ideal conditions for serving as the nucleus of a developing hydrogen economy not only on the Saar, but also in a cross-border economic area,” said Anke Langner, member of the management board of Steag New Energies GmbH.

Located close to the borders with France and Luxembourg, Saarbruecken is preparing to build the infrastructure necessary for a cross-border public transport network based on hydrogen buses and trains. Saarbahn will initially need 255 tonnes of hydrogen per year to power its fleet with demand gradually growing to around 775 tonnes by the end of this decade when the company aims to have 85 articulated and non-articulated buses most of them running on hydrogen.

Steag's HydroHub Fenne project is part of a broader cooperation that the Essen-based power company agreed with partners from France, Luxembourg and Germany. Dubbed Grande Region Hydrogen (GRH), the partnership aims to support the creation of a cross-border hydrogen economy in the region.