German energy company LEAG has secured approximately €58 million ($63.01 million) in EU funding to develop a large-scale hydrogen production and storage complex in the eastern German mining region of Lusatia.
The funding notice for the H2UB Boxberg project was handed over to LEAG board member Joerg Waniek on Tuesday by Thomas Schmidt, Saxony’s state minister for regional development.
The planned energy complex in Boxberg, a municipality in the eastern German state of Saxony, will include an electrolyser with a capacity of around two tons of hydrogen per hour and a storage facility with a capacity of 60 tons.
The hydrogen will be converted into electricity using a fuel cell.
The hydrogen power plant will have an initial capacity of 10 MW, with the potential to expand to 500 MW by adding more fuel cells and hydrogen turbines. Facilities to supply hydrogen to industrial customers are also planned.
Next to the hydrogen power plant, a GigaBattery storage park will be built as part of the H2UB Boxberg project. By 2030, it is expected to have a storage capacity of 1,250 MWh, utilizing three battery technologies: 500 MW/500 MWh of lithium-ion batteries, 50 MW/500 MWh of iron redox flow batteries, and 50 MW/250 MWh of solid flow batteries.
The complex is expected to be operational in 2029.
H2UB Boxberg is part of LEAG’s GigawattFactory program, which aims to add 7 GW of green power generation by 2030 and up to 14 GW by 2040 in the Lausitz region. Investments in expanding storage capacity and developing hydrogen-capable power plants are central to the transformation of the company and the region.