Press release January 8, 2024
Bayer, E.ON, Iqony and Westenergie planning hydrogen cluster for Bergkamen
Partners Bayer, E.ON, Iqony and Westenergie conclude a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a hydrogen cluster
Bergkamen/Unna/Essen. The companies Bayer, E.ON, Iqony and Westenergie have agreed on a joint investigation into the feasibility of developing a hydrogen cluster in Bergkamen. In future, hydrogen could be produced from imported ammonia and supplied to customers in the region.
In the planned project, the partners will jointly cover the entire hydrogen value chain – from planning to marketing. The core of the cluster will be the production of green hydrogen based on imported ammonia. In the future, potential customers at the Bayer Group’s Bergkamen Industrial Park could be supplied with the hydrogen.
Partners’ contributions to the project
The international energy company E.ON, which focuses on energy networks and customer solutions, will take on ammonia procurement and logistics as well as hydrogen sales. E.ON will also examine further utilization and marketing opportunities.
Iqony, as a service provider and plant operator in the green energy sector, will be responsible for ammonia storage, constructing and operating the ammonia cracker and supervising the site preparation measures at Bayer’s Bergkamen site. The planning considerations will also include the construction of a pipeline to transport the hydrogen produced to the project partner Bayer’s industrial park.
The energy service and infrastructure provider Westenergie is to undertake an in-depth review of the pipeline construction. The investigation will focus in particular on the technical feasibility and the legal approval aspects of such a pipeline.
The partners see great potential in the development of a hydrogen cluster in Bergkamen: the direct use of green hydrogen would contribute to the ongoing decarbonization efforts of local industry. Located in the immediate vicinity of the Datteln-Hamm Canal and equipped with a well-developed infrastructure, the region offers special opportunities for the expansion of hydrogen initiatives. In addition, Iqony already has technical infrastructure for the supply and storage of ammonia, including a tanker vessel for the operation of the power plant site located directly on the Datteln-Hamm Canal.
What the partner companies say
“The hydrogen capacities required to decarbonize our economy in the future will be so large that it will simply not be possible to provide the amount needed from domestic production based on renewable energy sources alone. Instead, imports and a functioning import infrastructure will be needed to ensure that the hydrogen required can be supplied safely and reliably. The Bergkamen hydrogen cluster is a contribution to the establishment of such an import infrastructure,” says Dr. Andreas Reichel, CEO of Iqony.
“German industry and SMEs need safe, clean and affordable energy in order to remain internationally competitive and secure jobs in the future. And that requires hydrogen – a lot of it, very quickly. As it is not possible to electrify every process, industry and SMEs are dependent on process heat, i.e. high and constant temperatures,” says Katherina Reiche, CEO of Westenergie. “I am therefore delighted that we are taking a decisive step towards hydrogen in Bergkamen together with E.ON and our partners Iqony and Bayer – with strength, courage and foresight. The favorable conditions at the site make it almost ideal for analyzing the opportunities and challenges of an ammonia-based hydrogen supply along the entire value chain.”
The planned project is also unique for the partner E.ON in terms of the future supply of hydrogen to local industry. “The planning of a hydrogen cluster is of especial value to us. Our aim is to supply our customers with hydrogen as quickly and easily as possible in order to support them in their green transformation. This is of great interest to the chemical industry in particular, as those companies can recycle the hydrogen. In total, we plan to provide our customers in this cluster with several thousand metric tons of hydrogen each year. Together with our partners, we are using this project to drive forward the development of a functioning hydrogen economy,” says Dr. Gabriël Clemens, Managing Director of E.ON Hydrogen.
It is also an advantage to have the purchasing and recycling side of the project covered by our partner Bayer. “We are committed to economically viable, sustainable solutions,” says Dr. Dieter Heinz, Head of Site Management & Infrastructure Services, Pharmaceuticals Division of Bayer. “Green hydrogen from ammonia can become another important building block enabling us to become a climate-neutral site by 2030 and move closer to our long-term goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We bring the viewpoint of a future user at the Bergkamen Industrial Park into the joint project."
Project dovetails with regional development plans
The target set by the partners of establishing a hydrogen cluster in Bergkamen also fits in well with the plans of the city of Bergkamen and the district of Unna to develop a regional hydrogen economy on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area together with partners such as the city of Hamm: “We see hydrogen not only as an opportunity, but rather as a necessity if we want to secure the economy in our region in the medium and long term and make it fit for the future,” says Mario Löhr, Unna District Administrator.
Bergkamen’s mayor Bernd Schäfer takes a similar view: “The Ruhr region is a traditional location for industry and manufacturing, which form the basis of our prosperity. Where, if not here, should the transformation to a largely emission-free hydrogen economy succeed?”
Looking forward
The project partners have agreed to answer the questions of technical and commercial feasibility by the end of June 2024 and then jointly decide how to proceed with the project as a whole.
