Europe's first hydrogen storage power plant to be built with €4 million funding

Europe's first large-scale hydrogen storage power plant is being built on the site of the Saxonia Site Development and Management Company in Germany. The aim is to bring iron nugget based hydrogen storage technology to commercial maturity and to implement it economically as a functional storage power plant. The process involves the oxidation of iron nuggets to store hydrogen in the form of iron oxide, achieving an exceptionally high energy density. According to the developers, Ambartec, the iron nuggets allow hydrogen to be transported safely and at relatively low cost in standard containers by truck, rail or ship.

This is of particular interest to the many companies that need green hydrogen for their renewable energy supply, but are not connected to the hydrogen core network, or will not be in the near future.

- Uwe Pahl, Technical Director at AMBARtec

Together with the Institute of Energy Process Engineering and Chemical Engineering at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, a storage technology that has already been tested in practice is to be developed to the point where a 20-foot container for the energy of either 600 kg of hydrogen is ready for series production, and there are also variants for 800 kg and 900 kg - in the latter case, a container would then weigh 32 tons, which is the equivalent of 30 megawatt hours of electricity. The Free State of Saxony and the European Union are funding the joint project between Ambartec AG and the TU Bergakademie Freiberg (BAF) with almost 4 million euros.

The technology has great potential to significantly advance the transition of our economy to environmentally and climate-friendly energy. Research and development is the driving force behind growth and productivity and ensures that Saxon companies remain internationally competitive in the long term thanks to innovative product and process solutions.

- Dirk Panter, Minister of Economic Affairs