P r o j e c t News
BASF commissions 54 MW electrolyzer at its Ludwigshafen site Germany’ s largest PEM electrolyzer has gone into operation at BASF’ s Ludwigshafen site. Designed to produce zero-carbon hydrogen, the electrolyzer has a connected load of 54 MW and a capacity to supply the main plant with up to one metric ton of this chemical feedstock every hour.
Built in cooperation with Siemens Energy, the water electrolyzer is embedded in the production and infrastructure at the Ludwigshafen site, making it truly unique in terms of its interface and integration into a chemical production environment. A total of 72 stacks have been installed in the system. The electrolyzer has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at BASF’ s main plant by up to 72,000 metric tons per year.
The emission-free production of hydrogen – using electricity from renewable sources – is fundamental to the market ramp-up of chemical products with a reduced carbon footprint. Once produced, the hydrogen is fed into the site’ s hydrogen Verbund network and distributed to the production facilities as a raw material. In addition to using it as a feedstock for chemical products, BASF plans to supply hydrogen for mobility in the Rhine- Neckar Metropolitan Region, supporting the development of a hydrogen economy in the area.
Fluxys starts construction of hydrogen pipeline network in Belgium Fluxys has announced the start of construction of the first phase of its hydrogen pipeline network in Belgium. The decision to build these first hydrogen pipelines followed extensive consultations with the relevant authorities, the regulator, and industrial market players, and is aligned with delayed market development. The federal government is supporting these important initial investments in open-access hydrogen infrastructure through the European Resilience and Recovery Fund. This new pipeline network represents a first step in facilitating the hydrogen economy with a transport network to which producers and consumers can connect.
In the port areas of Antwerp and Ghent, as well as along the corridor between the two ports( from Kallo to Zelzate), Fluxys will build new hydrogen pipelines to provide transport capacity to the market on an openaccess basis. These pipelines will also be constructed using multi-purpose technology, imilar to that used for recent natural gas pipelines. The first section of the network is expected to be ready in 2026 and will be gradually expanded in line with market development, provided that the investment risks in the start-up phase of the market are mitigated to an acceptable level through government mechanisms.
4 Hydrogen Tech World | Issue 21 | April 2025