Uniper reports first hydrogen at 30 MW Bad Lauchstädt plant
About 3,000 tonnes are planned for TotalEnergies' Leuna refinery in 2027 as the partners begin testing the integrated supply chain.
Ines Halvorsen
By Nov. 10, first hydrogen had been produced at the 30-megawatt Bad Lauchstädt electrolyser in Germany, Uniper SE ETRUN0 reported in a statement posted Wednesday. The partners put investment in the integrated energy park at €210 million, including €44 million in federal support.
The sole customer is TotalEnergies SE EPATTE NYSETTE, whose Leuna refinery is to take the hydrogen; the project's offtake description does not specify the contract duration or price. Uniper's announcement puts the refinery's expected purchases at about 3,000 tonnes in 2027.
First production starts a testing phase rather than completing commissioning. The partners must now coordinate electricity generation, electrolysis, gas treatment and transport under operating conditions, with completion of commissioning scheduled for 2027.
Uniper shares traded at €43.85 on Xetra as of 5:35 p.m. CET on Wednesday, according to ETRUN0. TotalEnergies shares traded at US$87.70 in New York as of 1:11 p.m. EST on Nov. 11, according to NYSETTE.
Uniper and VNG Handel & Vertrieb GmbH are responsible for building and operating the electrolyser through their joint venture, Elektrolyse Mitteldeutschland GmbH. VNG's trading business handles hydrogen marketing, connecting the production asset to its industrial customer.
The production milestone brings the partners closer to supplying a refinery that already has an identified source and transport route. It does not establish that the integrated system has reached dependable commercial operation or that the planned annual deliveries have begun.
TotalEnergies dates its agreement with VNG for green hydrogen at Leuna to June 2023. The refinery is part of the energy company's wider programme to replace hydrogen made from fossil fuels with lower-carbon supplies.
“What is decisive now is that the entire process chain functions reliably in operation,” Uniper chief operating officer Holger Kreetz said in the announcement, translated from German.
Integrated Commissioning Is Scheduled For 2027
The Nov. 10 announcement describes an electrolyser with three modules of 10 megawatts each. Each module contains two stacks, where electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
A connected wind farm supplies renewable electricity and has about 50 megawatts of installed capacity, according to the announcement. Those electrical ratings describe the equipment; the separate 2027 purchase figure measures the hydrogen intended for industrial use.
Construction of the electrolyser began in June 2023. The project's published timeline dates delivery of the first stacks to October 2025 and the start of phased commissioning to the end of that year.
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The supply route uses about 25 kilometres of former natural-gas pipeline converted for hydrogen. Gas treatment and transport must work together with production before the new supply can be used as intended at Leuna.
The project also reports renewable-hydrogen certification since August 2026, confirming compliance with European requirements. That certification addresses the hydrogen's renewable status, while the operating tests address the performance of the combined system.
The next step is coordinated testing across the supply chain, followed by completion of integrated commissioning in 2027. The project's timeline separately schedules completion of the hydrogen-production research phase for August 2027.
