Pritzwalk/Dauerthal — ENERTRAG, a leading Brandenburg company for renewable energy, announces, in close cooperation with the district of Prignitz, an ambitious and groundbreaking project for the establishment of a hydrogen production plant in the Prignitz-Falkenhagen industrial park.
This collaboration marks a decisive milestone in the implementation of Brandenburg’s, Germany’s, and Europe’s hydrogen strategy by providing a location for the production of green hydrogen on an industrial scale.
130 MW Electrolyzer in the Prignitz-Falkenhagen Industrial Park
This ambitious endeavor is one of the first of its kind in Brandenburg and includes the construction of an electrolysis plant with a capacity of 130 MW on an approximately 8.6-hectare site in the southeastern part of the Prignitz-Falkenhagen industrial park. Plans include the designation of an industrial area where hydrogen production and a local substation will be established. With the resolution to establish the development plan “Industrial Park Prignitz Energy Conversion,” an important milestone has been reached for the successful implementation of the project. The plan to convert farmland into industrial land and to build a substation forms a solid foundation for strengthening the H2 economy in Brandenburg and beyond in Germany. Commissioning is scheduled for mid to late 2027.
Joy in the Prignitz District and in the City of Pritzwalk
The Prignitz district is very pleased about the upcoming settlement and the significant investment that ENERTRAG wants to make here. “This is a clear sign of the attractiveness of our Prignitz industrial park,” emphasizes District Administrator Christian Müller, who is very enthusiastic about the plans. It’s a great innovative project in the field of renewable energies, which, through the waste product heat, will benefit the entire region and bring it to the forefront, especially in the area of green hydrogen, but also in terms of sustainability.
The conditions in the Prignitz industrial park are excellent, especially since the adjacent Ontras gas pipeline can be completely converted to hydrogen. There is hope that this will also have a signaling effect for further settlements in the Prignitz industrial park. There is excellent cooperation with the city of Pritzwalk, where they are also pleased about the new settlement. Pritzwalk’s Mayor Dr. Ronald Thiel fully shares the District Administrator’s assessment: “In this way, we may become pioneers in terms of the energy transition,” he says.
Prignitz Industrial Park Excels with Strategically Favorable Location
The Prignitz-Falkenhagen industrial park, where the facility will be built, is characterized by its strategic location in the northwest of the state of Brandenburg on the A24 motorway. Michael Drantmann, the responsible project manager at ENERTRAG, is convinced of the new location: “With a high potential for renewable energies and direct proximity to the doing hydrogen pipeline, the location offers ideal conditions for green hydrogen production.” The Prignitz Economic Development Corporation was significantly involved in the search for suitable land and in making contact with the district, the city, and neighboring companies in the industrial park.
ENERTRAG Plans Investment of up to 200 Million Euros and Creates Jobs
The Prignitz District Council has now also created important prerequisites for the project with its decisions for the establishment of the development plan “Industrial Park Energy Conversion Prignitz” on July 6, 2023. The Prignitz district will continue to support its implementation to the best of its ability.
The planned investment of 150 to 200 million euros includes the creation of about 20 permanent jobs plus external trades (logistics, suppliers, etc.), which will be supplemented by more than 50 additional jobs during the construction phase. This can have positive effects on the local economy, ultimately contributing to improving the prosperity of the region.
Hydrogen Project Prignitz-Falkenhagen is Part of doing hydrogen
In addition to its economic contribution, this project is an integral part of the joint project doing hydrogen, which aims to convert part of the Ontras gas infrastructure into a 100% hydrogen network and thus lay the foundation for a comprehensive hydrogen network in East Germany and beyond. The merger of various industrial partners connects H2 projects in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt into a powerful hydrogen hub. It is therefore not only a unique project for the people and the economy in East Germany but a central building block in the implementation of the German and European hydrogen strategy.
Some of the hydrogen produced in the Prignitz-Falkenhagen industrial park will be taken over by the industrial project Concrete Chemicals in Rüdersdorf near Berlin. The hydrogen is to be fed into the doing hydrogen pipeline, which can also supply other customers between Rostock, Leipzig, and Eisenhüttenstadt. Additional regional and local customers can be supplied via a filling station and via trailers.
Already in Planning: Partnership with Deliscious Vertical Farming Falkenhagen
One of the key innovations of this project is strategic partnerships to fully exploit all aspects of the technology. One of them is the partnership with Deliscious Vertical Farming in the Prignitz-Falkenhagen industrial park, where plans are being made to use the waste heat from electrolysis for heating in winter and cooling in summer for growing lettuce. This sustainable use of waste heat not only contributes to the efficiency of the electrolysis plant but also makes a valuable contribution to the climate neutrality of adjacent lettuce production.
Green hydrogen is a central pillar of the energy industry of the future. As an energy storage, it contributes to the stabilization of volatile renewable energies from solar and wind power and relieves the power grids. In this way, it represents an effective tool for sector coupling and decarbonization of processes. The focus is particularly on energy-intensive industrial processes with a need for high-temperature process heat, such as steel, glass, paper, or cement production. By using hydrogen in industrial processes, a significant amount of CO2 equivalents will be saved: the amount of hydrogen produced in Pritzwalk-Falkenhagen, for example, allows the further processing of 60,000 tons of CO2 per year into sustainably produced aviation fuels, which in turn makes a significant contribution to climate protection
Main Image caption: Michael Drantmann, Project Manager PtX ENERTRAG, District Administrator Christian Müller, Prignitz District, Falko Krassowski, Chairman of the Building and Economic Committee Prignitz, Guido Filipov, Strategic Project Development ENERTRAG (from left to right)
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