Uniper has withdrawn its plans to build an LNG terminal in the Lower Saxony bay in favour of a 410MW electrolysis plant and green hydrogen hub
Uniper’s natural gas plant at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, Credit: Uniper website
German utility manufacturer, Uniper has made headlines by withdrawing its plans to build an import terminal for liquefied natural gas and in its place, construct a green hydrogen hub. Currently, the new plan is to construct a comprehensive hub to manufacture green hydrogen, alongside which Uniper is planning to build an import terminal for green ammonia and an electrolysis plant capable of producing up to 410MW of green energy. Uniper is currently gearing up to conduct a feasibility study of the project and all its components. The changed project will be situated on Wilhelmshaven, a port on the Lower Saxony bay in Germany, by the North Sea.
In a press release announcing their decision, Uniper said: “A market test to show binding interest proved that there is currently not enough interest in the LNG sector in terms of booking large, long-term capacities for LNG regasification in Germany. In total, the Wilhelmshaven hub would be capable of supplying around 295,000 metric tons or 10 percent of the demand expected for the whole of Germany in 2030. The generated climate friendly hydrogen will primarily be used to supply local industry, but it will also be possible to feed it into the national hydrogen network.”
Environmental Action Germany (DUH), an NGO that works to lobby against projects of significant environmental damage in the country welcomed Uniper’s decision. Sascha Müller-Kraenner, the head of DUH said: “DUH welcomes the end of Uniper’s plans for an LNG terminal because its operation would have involved the import of fracking gas, which is particularly damaging to the climate and the environment. The operators in Brunsbüttel and Stade must now ask themselves how they can still continue their planning in the face of this wake-up call.”
Müller-Kraenner was referring to LNG terminals being planned in Brunsbüttel and Stade which are in a quandary following Uniper’s turnaround. However, Uniper isn’t the only German energy manufacturer that is reconsidering its options. RWE recently announced that it was also planning to construct a green hydrogen import hub at the port of Brunsbüttel, in partnership with H2U, an Australian hydrogen company.
