French company Lhyfe has started construction work for its new hydrogen production plant in Brake on the site located on land in the harbor area of Niedersachsen Ports (NPorts), Germany’s largest public seaport operator.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the production facility is taking place today, February 1. According to Lhyfe, this will be the first plant in the northern German region to make green hydrogen available to the wider market.
The plant will produce up to 1,150 tonnes of green hydrogen per year (installed electrolysis capacity of 10 MW). The electricity will come from wind and photovoltaic plants in the country, through corporate PPAs and potential offtakers would include various industrial and mobility applications, the company said.
This project in Brake is also expected to play a major role in decarbonizing the industrial port complex and maritime transport.
“By supplying green hydrogen, our seaport of Brake has even more to offer. This will enable the port industry to increasingly dispense with fossil fuels. A broad network is served over short distances. We see this as an important contribution to the energy transition and circular economy in the region. The port of Brake offers the complete package, including the available space and trimodal connections to rail, road and waterways. We look forward to working together to develop the site’s sustainable future,” explained Holger Banik , Managing Director of Niedersachsen Ports GmbH & Co. KG and JadeWeserPort Realisierungs GmbH & Co. KG.
Luc Graré , Head of Central & Eastern Europe at Lhyfe, commented: “We are delighted to be able to realise this 10 MW project. It demonstrates the economic viability of hydrogen solutions in the transport and industrial sectors and supports the state of Lower Saxony in its ambitious goals of building a nationwide hydrogen infrastructure. The port of Brake offers ideal conditions for the construction of green hydrogen plants.
“This project is also an important signal for Lhyfe and the sign of our ambition to make the future of energy supply more sustainable. Thanks to our many years of experience in the field of green and renewable hydrogen, we are able to meet the growing local demand for clean hydrogen. With this project, we are also driving value creation in the region. The local availability of green hydrogen will create new jobs and companies in the region will benefit from affordable clean hydrogen.”
Lhyfe recently announced the start of construction of the largest hydrogen production plant in Baden-Württemberg, in Schwäbisch Gmünd. The ground-breaking ceremony of this 10 MW production plant took place in October.
The company’s first site has already been in operation since the second half of 2021, while two other sites in France were inaugurated in December 2023. Several other sites are currently under construction across Europe, including France, Germany, and Sweden.
Green hydrogen for the aviation industry
In a separate announcement on February 1, Lhyfe revealed it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SAF+ International Group (SAF+), a Canadian producer and marketer of electro sustainable aviation Fuel ( e-SAF).
The companies wish to combine their expertise to develop the production of e-SAF from green and renewable hydrogen, at a production site located in the Le Havre area. This is the first announcement of its kind for Lhyfe.
The partners are aiming for a facility in the port region of Le Havre, where Lhyfe would build a green hydrogen production site with a capacity of more than 100 tonnes per day (300 MW of installed electrolysis capacity) to supply an e-SAF production site that SAF+ is planning to build.
This industrial complex would be connected to the hydrocarbon transport network in order to transport the e-SAF obtained from Le Havre to airports in the Paris region, as well as in northern and eastern France via the existing infrastructure. The two partners are aiming for a market launch by 2030, to align with market expectations and the zero-emission targets set for 2050.