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Groundbreaking ceremony for the start of construction of the electrolysis plant at the Wunsiedel Energy Park - © Siemens AG

One of the largest CO₂-free hydrogen production plants in Germany is being built at the Wunsiedel Energy Park

On Friday, June 9th, the groundbreaking ceremony symbolically marked the start of construction works at the hydrogen production plant with a power input of 8.75 MW. The plant is being built by Siemens Smart Infrastructure for the operating company WUN H2 and is scheduled to go into operation in the summer of 2022. The electrolyzer will be able to produce up to 1,350 tons of H2 per year from renewable energy for use in transportation and industry. On the part of the University of Bayreuth, Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible, President of the University of Bayreuth, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Brüggemann, Director of the Center of Energy Technology (ZET) and head of the "ZET-Reallabor Energiezukunft Wunsiedel" project, took part in the ceremony.

Power-to-gas plant in the "ZET-Reallabor Energiezukunft Wunsiedel" project

In the "ZET-Reallabor Energiezukunft Wunsiedel", ZET is developing a holistic power-to-gas concept for sustainable hydrogen use in Wunsiedel. The research project is funded with 5 million euros by the Oberfrankenstiftung. Since the beginning of the year, four PhD students have been doing research on topics ranging from hydrogen production to hydrogen utilization. They are taking a systemic approach and using synergies with the existing infrastructure at the Wunsiedel Energy Park. For example, starting from the PEM electrolyzer and the periphery, a dynamic simulation model is being created to optimize the entire energy park. Thus, the start of construction works at the electrolysis plant also represents a milestone for the "ZET-Reallabor Energiezukunft Wunsiedel". Starting in October, the doctoral students will then also work on their research topics in Wunsiedel and can thus follow the construction progress on site.