Hydrogen from electrolysis (“green hydrogen”) is a central element in the so-called real-world laboratories of the energy transition, which the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) announced in an ideas competition in 2019. One of the winning projects is H2-Wyhlen by Naturenergie together with the parent company EnBW. This project aims to create the largest production capacity for green hydrogen in southern Germany in the foreseeable future at the Grenzach-Wyhlen site. The aim of the project is to create a convincing business model based on the use of hydrogen from green electricity and by-products (e.g. waste heat).

The project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics with a total of €13.5 million, is in full swing. There is already a 1 MW alkaline power-to-gas plant at the site, which was built as part of a Baden-Württemberg flagship project and with funding from the Stuttgart Ministry of Economic Affairs. The plant is connected directly to the Grenzach-Wyhlen hydropower plant. The hydrogen produced is fed into an intermediate storage tank, from where the gas is compressed to around 300 bar using a compressor. The hydrogen is then stored temporarily in a high-pressure storage tank so that it is available as required. In a trailer station, the compressed hydrogen is filled into trailer vehicles and transported to the customers. As this is also used to operate fuel cell vehicles, the plant contains a gas purification system to ensure the necessary gas purity.

The next step is the construction of another 5 MW power-to-gas plant and the expansion of the existing H₂ pressure storage tank by a capacity of 3.8 tons at 500 bar. The ground-breaking ceremony for the second plant took place in June 2024 and it is scheduled to go into production in 2026.