Siemens Energy and Air Liquide Pave the Way for the Ramp-up of the Hydrogen Economy

Recently, the new gigawatt electrolyzer factory of Siemens Energy and Air Liquide was officially inaugurated in Berlin, paving the way for the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. In the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Christian Bruch, CEO of Siemens Energy, and Francois Jackow, the CEO of French joint venture partner Air Liquide, pushed the start button for the series production of the hydrogen technology.

Foundation for the Ramp-up of the Hydrogen Economy

With the new factory, Siemens Energy is making electrolyzers a mass product, laying the foundation for the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. For hydrogen to become the game changer for a climate-neutral future, it must be available in large quantities and at competitive prices. This requires serial production of cost-effective and scalable electrolyzers. With an annual production capacity of one gigawatt, Siemens Energy and Air Liquide expect a ramp-up to at least three gigawatts by 2025 with potential for more. In comparison: with installed electrolysis capacity of three gigawatt, an average of 300,000 metric tons of green hydrogen can be produced per year when operated with renewable energies. Using this green hydrogen to replace fossil fuels would avoid the CO2 emissions of a major German city with around 260,000 inhabitants like Aachen.

At the Siemens Energy site in Berlin the complete infrastructure of an existing production facility and its experienced workforce can be used. New production lines for the electrolyzers were set up on 2,000 square meters at a cost of around 30 million euros. The new factory will supply stacks – the heart of electrolyzers – for a wide range of customers, serving the fast-growing market. These stacks are based on proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology that is particularly good at following intermittent renewable energy supply. Compared to other hydrogen technologies, PEM electrolyzers enable gigawatt capacities to be brought to market with lower material, manpower and space requirements, making them the ideal enablers of a fast ramp-up. Once produced, the assembly of the stacks to be implemented in electrolyzer projects will be carried closer to the project sites, contributing further to the cost effectiveness of the solution.

The strategic Franco-German partnership benefits from the expertise of both Groups and from a portfolio of hydrogen projects combining both Air Liquide and Siemens Energy’s pipelines. In Europe, a number of low-carbon and renewable large-scale hydrogen projects are already under development. The mass production of industrial scale electrolyzers is essential to making competitive renewable hydrogen a reality.