Ground-breaking €70 million investment project kicked-off in Premnitz (Germany)
On 23 April 2021, the City of Premnitz has witnessed the start of a 70 Mio Euro project to produce green hydrogen from waste. The project is a cooperation of the German Richter Group and the Swedish technology company Plagazi. From 2023, the new plasma gasification plant in Premnitz should turn 44,000 tons of non-recyclable plastics and composites from wind turbine blades into 7,500 tons of very clean hydrogen (99.99%) and 100,000 tons of liquid CO2 of industrial quality. This technological breakthrough allows to produce hydrogen in a more efficient, green way than traditional approaches.
Mr Torsten Granberg, CEO of Plagazi underlines that Premnitz offers excellent conditions for a waste to hydrogen plant with both access to otherwise unrecyclable waste fractions and proximity to a future hydrogen grid: “We are currently working on 25 waste-to-hydrogen projects in various stages of development. But the fastest development we see here in Premnitz. We are thus very confident that this will not only be a very successful investment but a trail blazer for Germany.”
The certification company DNV has a strong track record of working with the gas industry and renewable energy. DNV studied the CO2 footprint of the Plagazi process and its compatibility with standards and definitions for green hydrogen. The certifiers have concluded that the process produces green hydrogen: even in a conservative scenario the Plagazi process features a negative CO2 footprint of -5.47 CO2e/kg H2.
During the kick-off, Mr Stefan Kaufmann, the Federal Commissioner for Hydrogen Techologies recalled that many new projects will be needed to reach the ambitious goals of the Germany Hydrogen Strategy and underlined: “We need ideas like here in Premnitz. I find the proposed process very interesting.”
Mr Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Secretary General of Hydrogen Europe supported this view: “Europe needs more projects to produce green hydrogen. The proposed process can address both the difficult, unrecyclable waste fraction and produce the clean energy carrier hydrogen. That is a big step in the right direction.”
For more information contact: astrid.severin(a)greenovate.eu