Frank Mette, CEO of ANDRITZ Hydro in Germany, and Dr. Uwe Lauber, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer of MAN Energy Solutions, signed the agreement in Ravensburg.

A pilot project in Europe will mark the start of the collaboration. Subsequently, the companies want to jointly identify further projects and implement them in the context of the German Federal Government's H2 Global initiative. H2 Global is a market-based funding platform, which aims to efficiently promote the market launch of green hydrogen and hydrogen-based power-to-X products. For this purpose, hydrogen energy partnerships are to be established with countries with a correspondingly high potential to provide a long-term, cost-effective and reliable green hydrogen supply to Germany and the EU.

Frank Mette: “Hydropower is one of the few completely climate-neutral forms of energy, which is capable of providing base load power. We therefore see excellent potential for worldwide expansion – in new construction projects just as much as in repowering. By adding the possibility of producing hydrogen to hydropower plants, we are taking the next step and also making the energy generated there ready for export and storage without restriction. Together with MAN Energy Solutions, we can open up new markets and opportunities for the operators.”

Uwe Lauber: “The economy of the future will be climate-neutral, and to achieve this it needs huge quantities of green hydrogen. Together with ANDRITZ Hydro, we want to make this resource available. Hydropower plants are ideal for generating hydrogen in a completely climate-neutral, reliable and cost-effective manner. With ANDRITZ Hydro, we have been able to enter into a partnership with a world leader in the field of hydraulic power generation, to develop these prospects together with us.”

The companies are aiming to launch an initial joint pilot project before the end of this year to provide about 650 tons of green hydrogen by using an electrolysis output of up to 4 MW, initially for local use. In follow-up projects, designed for the export of hydrogen, the installed electrolysis output is expected to increase to up to 100 MW in the coming years.

Frank Mette: “MAN Energy Solutions contributes scalable and, above all, flexible electrolysis technology to this partnership, along with many years of experience in power-to-X technology and plant engineering. Together, we will tap growth markets for hydrogen in Europe and worldwide, including for the production of green hydrogen, which can then be imported by German consumers.”

Through H-TEC SYSTEMS, the electrolysis specialist owned by MAN Energy Solutions, the company offers PEM electrolysis technology. In locations such as Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein, stacks and megawatt electrolysers based on the polymer-electrolyte membrane process (PEM) are developed by around 85 specialists of H-TEC SYSTEMS to cover the hydrogen demand for industry as well as for energy refiners.