Press release February 23, 2024
E-world energy & water 2024: Focus on power plant strategy and hydrogen
Iqony presents green energy solutions of the future at Europe’s leading energy trade fair
Essen. Meetings of experts at the highest level, personal networking and excellently attended panel discussions and presentations: E-world energy & water in Essen was a complete success for Iqony, the STEAG Group’s green energy experts.
The timing for Europe’s leading energy trade fair could not have been better: The German government only recently announced the first key points of a power plant strategy, which the industry had long been waiting for. And just a few days before the trade fair, the EU’s long-awaited decision on the IPCEI notification of numerous hydrogen projects, including Iqony’s “HydroHub Fenne” in Völklingen, Saarland, was published.
“Both topics were the focus of discussions and meetings at the trade fair and are also a top priority for our company,” said Dr. Andreas Reichel, Chairman of the Management Boards of STEAG and Iqony.
Site transformation as the central topic
With the EU’s approval under state aid law for the Iqony hydrogen project in Saarland, the EU Commission has cleared the way for the provision of funding by the state and federal governments. The HydroHub Fenne is set to go into operation as early as 2027 and produce up to 8,200 metric tons of green, climate-neutral hydrogen each year. Iqony is working at full speed to transform its existing power plant sites with a focus on hydrogen and hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants, and large-scale storage batteries – topics that were also the focus of numerous discussions between experts and the media at E-world.
There was especially great interest in the hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants planned by Iqony: “We can establish new capacities with a total output of around three gigawatts at three sites within just a few years,” Andreas Reichel emphasizes. This makes STEAG and Iqony, its future-oriented subsidiary, key players in the transformation of the energy industry towards secure supply and climate neutrality.
Key points of the power plant strategy “a first, important step”
With the presentation of the key points of the power plant strategy, politicians have taken an important first step, and now it is primarily a matter of firming up the framework conditions for the planned tenders and the design of the promised capacity market model in a timely manner, says Andreas Reichel. “In order to achieve the necessary security of investment, these two points in particular need to be clarified quickly, because with a view to 2030 time is of the essence.”
Progress in transformation of the plants
To master the challenges on the path to a climate-neutral future, Iqony is focusing on decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization of the energy supply. Customers and interested parties were able to find out about the broad range of energy solutions for solar, wind and geothermal energy, hydrogen, storage technologies and engineering at Iqony’s 300 square meter stand at E-world.
Iqony experts presented and discussed forward-looking solutions in the field of energy and technology in the dedicated “Speaker's Corner”. The presentations focused on the company’s most important growth and transformation projects, including planned battery storage systems and the use of industrial waste heat for district heating.
“There was a great response to the presentations and a desire to exchange ideas with our experts on the current pressing issues and problems surrounding energy and energy services,” Dr. Ralf Schiele, COO of STEAG and Iqony, concludes.
