The refinery in Leuna will source green hydrogen from the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park starting in 2025. On Friday, June 27, the operator TotalEnergies signed the final contracts with the gas network operator Ontras. This ensures the first fully contracted supply chain for green hydrogen in Germany. According to Ontras CEO Gunar Schmidt, TotalEnergies is the first customer for the planned hydrogen core network in Germany.
On June 27, Thomas Behrends, Managing Director of the TotalEnergies refinery, and Gunar Schmidt, Ontras Managing Director for Operations and Safety, signed the contracts for connection to the new hydrogen network in Central Germany. The agreement ensures that the refinery will begin receiving hydrogen through the Ontras pipeline from the fourth quarter of 2025.
First H2 Customer for Bad Lauchstädt
The hydrogen will be supplied from the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park, approximately 25 km away. Ontras plans to convert an existing natural gas pipeline between the energy park and the refinery site in Leuna for hydrogen use. Gunar Schmidt emphasized that with the final signatures, "all necessary contractual foundations for the production and transport of hydrogen have been established":
“We are very pleased to connect TotalEnergies, the first customer in Germany, to the future hydrogen core network. Now we can fully focus on the timely conversion of the existing natural gas pipeline to hydrogen.”
Conversion by the End of the Year
According to Ontras, the contracts include provisions for the "necessary technological and commercial conditions" of H2 delivery. A metering and regulation system, a connection pipeline, and its network connection to the Ontras hydrogen network need to be established. The network connection is part of the "Reallabor Energiepark Bad Lauchstädt" research project.
Construction of the necessary facilities at the refinery site is scheduled to begin in July. By the end of the year, the Ontras pipeline should be fully converted to transport hydrogen, allowing commercial hydrogen transport to commence as planned in the second half of 2025.
The Leuna refinery is working on various projects to reduce its CO2 footprint. In November 2023, the first pilot plant for the production of green methanol was commissioned. Thomas Behrends of TotalEnergies emphasized the crucial role of hydrogen in these efforts.
