Norwegian Equinor and German RWE Plan to Build New Power Plants That Will Transition to Hydrogen

Norwegian energy company Equinor, in collaboration with German company RWE, plans to build several new gas power plants that will eventually operate on hydrogen. This is a result of the plans of both countries for extensive partnership in the development of green energy.

The companies signed an agreement on Thursday to build new power plants in Germany that will initially operate on gas and then on hydrogen produced from gas with carbon storage, with the ultimate goal of operating on hydrogen obtained using renewable energy.

– The energy crisis has highlighted the importance of Norway as a reliable gas supplier to Europe, but it has also emphasized the need to accelerate the transition to renewable energy – stated Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

The agreement includes the construction of gas power plants in Germany as part of the country’s move away from coal, establishing low-carbon hydrogen production in Norway, exporting hydrogen via a potential pipeline between the countries, and jointly developing offshore wind farms.

Anders Opedal, CEO of Equinor, stated that the collaboration has the potential to develop Norway into a key hydrogen supplier across Europe.

– This is a unique opportunity to build a hydrogen industry in Norway where hydrogen can also be used as a raw material for domestic industries – he concluded.

Moving Away from Russia

Norway has displaced Russia as the largest gas supplier to the EU since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year. It is increasingly establishing itself as the democratic oil supplier of choice compared to other sources such as Russia or Qatar.

Investment in hydrogen is a significant part of Berlin’s efforts to make Germany carbon neutral by 2045, while also moving away from Russian gas.

Norway is particularly interested in promoting so-called blue hydrogen, which is produced from gas but with carbon captured and stored.

Germany is more skeptical about blue hydrogen and has placed greater emphasis on ‘green’ hydrogen, produced from water using wind and solar energy.

– In order to make progress in the transition from fossil fuels to hydrogen, there is an urgent need for a rapid increase in the hydrogen economy. Blue hydrogen in large quantities can start, with subsequent conversion to supply green hydrogen – stated Markus Krebber, CEO of RWE.

Germany aims for 14 terawatt hours of domestic hydrogen production by 2030, which is a dramatic increase, but still falls significantly short of the projected hydrogen demand in the country by that date of 90 TWh-110 TWh. As a result, most of Germany’s hydrogen will need to be imported.