ARTICLE The first end-to-end hydrogen economy From trucks powered by fuel cells to steel produced with green hydrogen, the world’s first end-to-end hydrogen economy is being created in Lower Saxony. We talked to Stefan Dohler and Urban Keussen, Chief Executive and Chief Technical Officer at the utility EWE, to learn more about this highly ambitious project. One of the world’s first truly integrated hydrogen economies“We need to work on all parts is rapidly taking shape in Germany’s geographical northwest of the value chain at the corner, in the area centered around Bremen and Oldenburg. With multiple partners, the fully integrated utility EWE is leadingsame time. That’s the current a range of projects from along the value chain to make this challenge.” hydrogen haven happen. LOCATION NORTHWEST GERMANY scale rather than more experimentation to become economically “Our location is ideal,” says Chief Executive Stefan Dohler. Thefeasible. “We say no more research is needed to make the region served by EWE generates high quantities of wind power,hydrogen economy happen. All the technologies exist. We both onshore and offshore. Its huge underground salt cavernssimply need to scale them to achieve better economics.” are suited for hydrogen storage, and the company is building aA broad market activation effort is required, CEO Dohler says. small test cavern for hydrogen in Rüdersdorf near Berlin. Major“The tricky thing is, we need to work on all parts of the value pipelines cross the territory – north to south from the North Sea tochain at the same time. That’s the current challenge.” the Ruhr, and west to east from the Netherlands to Hamburg and Denmark – which can be used to distribute hydrogen. Large- MOBILITY & INDUSTRY scale North Sea ports provide access to the world. On the mobility front, EWE is leading Hyways for Future, which promises “emissions-free mobility in the supra-regional hydrogen Alongside this backbone of infrastructure, the German northwesthub.” EWE has persuaded 90 partners, includigcop has customers. These include rural areas which need mobilitymunicipalities, and Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport and solutions, and Bremen city centre, which has a significant steelDigital Infrastructure, to support the project, to “turn a vision of the production site. “Heavy-duty mobility and industrial applicationsfuture into everyday life.” are close to economic implementation, so that’s where our projects are focused,” says Urban Keussen, EWE’s Chief Technical Officer.Already €90 million has been allocated to the project, which includes construction of an electrolyzer linked to a renewable Other areas are not very far behind, Keussen says, and requireenergy generation site, fuelling stations for trucks and cars, and 20