Wunsiedel gets the good stuff

„Bavaria's largest electrolysis plant for green hydrogen goes into operation in Wunsiedel: Bavaria is doing pioneering work for Germany and Europe - and Franconia is already Bavaria's number 1 when it comes to hydrogen: over 1350t of hydrogen per year can supply 15,000 households“, said Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder.

“Future-oriented projects need a solid financing basis,” said Veronika Bienert, CEO of Siemens Financial Services, the financing arm of Siemens AG. “In Wunsiedel, we teamed up with an external lender, the UmweltBank in Nuremberg, to implement the first non-recourse project financing – in other words, financing without counter-liability to the shareholders – for such a plant in Germany and thus demonstrate the project’s economic feasibility.” 

Using only renewable energy from photovoltaics or wind power, up to 1,350 tons of hydrogen can be produced there each year. By using this hydrogen up to 13,500 tons of CO2 can be avoided annually. Picture: Wunsiedel Energy Park with the new hydrogen plant in white, bottom left.

Official groundbreaking for one of Germany’s largest hydrogen production plants and a future hydrogen filling station in northern Bavaria.

From left to right: State Minister Hubert Aiwanger, State Minister Thorsten Glauber, Siemens Chief Financial Officer Professor Dr. Ralf Thomas, Minister-President Dr. Markus Söder, WUN H2 Managing Director Dr. Thilo Rießner, Wunsiedel Mayor Nicolas Lahovnik, Managing Director of SWW Wunsiedel Marco Krasser, and Siemens Project Manager Andreas Schmuderer.

The official groundbreaking ceremony in Wunsiedel marks the start of construction of a hydrogen generation plant with a capacity of 8.75 megawatts. The facility will produce up to 1,350 tons of hydrogen per year using only renewable energy, for example from solar or wind power. Using the generated hydrogen in transportation and industry allows for CO2 savings of up to 13,500 tons annually. Siemens Smart Infrastructure is the general contractor for the entire plant, with Siemens Financial Services (SFS) participating in the equity financing as well as holding a share of 45 percent in the operating company WUN H2 GmbH.

“Converting our energy supply to new, climate-neutral energy sources is one of the main objectives of the energy transition. Hydrogen plays a key role in this,” said Siemens Chief Financial Officer Professor Dr. Ralf P. Thomas at the groundbreaking ceremony. “In this respect, Wunsiedel, with its existing distributed energy system and the use of digital technology, is a lighthouse project for a sustainable energy future.”

""Role model from Bavaria: Green hydrogen is the future. Today we are breaking ground for one of Germany's largest CO2-free hydrogen plants in Wunsiedel. With green hydrogen, we combine ecology with prosperity. In Bavaria, one billion euros will be invested in hydrogen projects over the next few years," said Bavarian Minister President Dr. Markus Söder.

Reinwald Kleblein (SAG), Roland Schmidt (SAG), Nicolas Lahovnik (Mayor WUN), Marco Krasser (Managing Director SWW Wunsiedel GmbH), Dr. Thilo Rießner (Managing Director WUN H2), Andreas Schmuderer (SAG), Dr. Rainer Saliger (SAG), Dr. Philipp Matthes (Managing Director WUN H2), Dr. Koch (SAG)(from left to right)

The Energy Park in Wunsiedel