Future-flexible booking: EnBW chooses Stade for LNG and H2 imports
Karlsruhe/Stade. EnBW will import three billion cubic meters of LNG per year via the Hanseatic Energy Hub in Stade beginning with commissioning. The capacities were booked bindingly in the past few days as part of a sales process and will make a significant contribution to Germany's security of supply with affordable energy. In addition, EnBW will have the option to move to ammonia as a hydrogen-based energy source at a later date. This possibility is open to all Hanseatic Energy Hub customers with a long-term contract of more than 10 years.
"At EnBW, we are working intensively on the transition from fossil fuels such as coal to non-fossil fuels such as hydrogen. The cooperation with the Hanseatic Energy Hub fits very well into our efforts to become climate-neutral by 2035," explains Georg Stamatelopoulos, Member of the EnBW Board of Management and Chief Operating Officer Sustainable Generation Infrastructure. "Initially, we will ensure security of supply with the help of LNG imports from the terminal in Stade, and in the long term we will be able to substitute natural gas with climate-neutral green hydrogen."
The Hanseatic Energy Hub is a future-flexible modular system for the green energy transition that utilizes the diverse opportunities of the Stade energy region. The terminal, port, industrial park and connecting infrastructure are designed so that a conversion can take place in a modular way. Main tanks, pipelines and other immovable parts will be commissioned ammonia-ready. The foundations are already structurally designed to support a higher load. Additional space has also been reserved in the industrial park for separate ammonia tanks to support the market ramp-up from the outset.
"EnBW has been demonstrating for a long time how a smart conversion of the energy supply works. We are pleased that the Hanseatic Energy Hub will become a central energy import hub for EnBW in the future," said Johann Killinger, Hanseatic Energy Hub´s managing director and co-shareholder. "Our modular system and commercial portfolio give us the necessary flexibility in Stade to make a significant contribution to security of supply and, in parallel, to accompany the hydrogen ramp-up in Germany."
Both EnBW and HEH are focusing on ammonia as a carrier for hydrogen, since its handling, transport and storage have been proven over many years. Ammonia is one of the most widely produced chemicals in the world and has many different applications. After transport, it can be reconverted to hydrogen or used directly as a CO₂-neutral fuel. Corresponding technologies are making rapid progress. Co-combustion of up to 20 % ammonia has already been successfully implemented in smaller power plants and furnaces.
About HEH
The Hanseatic Energy Hub (HEH) is a future-flexible terminal for liquefied gases at the industrial location of Stade. The independent hub secures and diversifies Germany's import demand for affordable energy. In a first expansion stage, an emission-free LNG terminal is to be commissioned from 2026, with infrastructure also approved for bio-LNG and SNG. The planned regasification capacity is 13.3 bcm/a and the injection capacity is 21.7 GW. With the development of new climate-neutral energy sources, the hub will also facilitate the import of hydrogen-based energy carriers. HEH shareholders are the Buss Group, Fluxys, the Partners Group (on behalf of its clients), and Dow.
About EnBW
With over 26,000 employees, EnBW is one of the largest energy companies in Germany and Europe. It supplies around 5.5 million customers with electricity, gas, water as well as services and products in the areas of infrastructure and energy. The expansion of renewable energies is a cornerstone of the growth strategy and a focus of investment. EnBW will invest around 4 billion euros in the further expansion of wind and solar energy by 2025. By the end of 2025, more than half of the generation portfolio is set to consist of renewable energies. This is already having a noticeable effect on reducing CO₂ emissions, which EnBW aims to halve by 2030. EnBW is aiming for climate neutrality by 2035.
Contact
Contact HEH
Charlotte Holzum
on behalf of Hanseatic Energy Hub GmbH
c/o navos - Public Dialogue Consultants GmbH
Glashüttenstraße 79
20357 Hamburg
Phone: 040 69 638 76 44
E-mail: dialog@hanseatic-energy-hub.de