PROJECT HISTORY
The challenge
Making green hydrogen available as a sustainable energy source in Germany and Europe
Wilhelmshaven Green Energy Hub
Supporting Germany’s energy transition through hydrogen
The solution
An energy terminal that is supplied by sea, connected to the distribution grid, and capable of generating green electricity
The impact
Up to 10% of Germany's primary energy demand will be covered through the Wilhelmshaven Green Energy Hub
6.6 million tons
annual volume of green hydrogen in the final expansion stage
250 terawatt hours
annual sustainable energy import
The Challenge
Hydrogen will increasingly play an important role as an energy source and substitute for fossil fuels for Germany and Europe in the coming years. Sustainable production via electrolysis in windy and sunny regions and transport by sea (in the form of green, synthetic methane, called e-NG) offers a promising concept for the future. The challenge is the complex terminal technology that is required, which ranges from the ship docks to CO2 capture and recirculation to the injection of hydrogen into distribution networks.
Tree Energy Solutions (TES) is creating the Green Energy Hub in Wilhelmshaven. The large-scale infrastructure project is the first of its kind in Germany and will be delivered in a compressed timeframe, which poses unique planning, communication, and approval management challenges. In Wilhelmshaven, stakeholders, affected parties, authorities, interest groups, and experts from a wide range of disciplines must cooperate in a goal-oriented manner to complete one of Europe’s flagship energy transition projects. The project will convert and relocate an existing EU bird protection area (Natura 2000 area), and a development plan will be created.
The Solution
In Wilhelmshaven, we are providing stakeholder and communication management services to TES to support public participation, information campaigns and events, the organization and moderation of participation procedures, and political decision-making processes. At the same time, our approval management experts are developing the project’s legal zoning plan procedure and the necessary permits in accordance with the Federal Immission Control Act. This work will help TES implement optimal drainage concepts and planning approval procedures that align with water law. It will also promote environmental management in accordance with EMAS and ESG standards. In addition, on behalf of TES, our colleagues from the Netherlands will analyze and optimize the overall project through a lifecycle assessment that will measure the project’s sustainability over the entire asset life cycle.
For this project, our customer Tree Energy Solutions has called on everything we have to deliver in terms of planning and consulting expertise in the areas of energy transition, large-scale infrastructure projects, and climate protection. We are passionate about this European hydrogen pioneering project.
The Impact
Once the first expansion stage of the Green Energy Hub goes into operation around 2030, it will mark a new phase of the energy transition in Germany. With four ship berths and up to six tanks with a total storage volume of over one million cubic meters, up to 250 TWh of green energy will be imported in the final stage of development around 2050. Up to 10% of Germany's primary energy demand will be covered with these new infrastructural foundations.
The Green Energy Hub will become the nucleus of hydrogen infrastructure throughout Germany and Europe, which is constantly being expanded with projects such as H2ercules. The Green Energy Hub will reduce global dependence on fossil fuels and will make the continent fundamentally more climate-friendly and resilient.
Used capabilities
