Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park wins H2Eco Award
Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park is this year's winner of the H2Eco Award as a flagship project for the energy transition. The prize was awarded yesterday, 23 April 2024, as part of HANNOVER MESSE 2024. Cornelia Müller-Pagel, Project Manager of Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park and Head of Green Gases at VNG AG, and Prof Dr Hartmut Krause, Managing Director of the & Education Science Department at DBI - Gastechnologisches Institut gGmbH Freiberg, accepted the award on behalf of the project's seven consortium partners on the stage of the Public Forum Hydrogen + Fuel Cells EUROPE.The H2Eco Award is organised by the German Hydrogen Association (DWV) e. V. and Deutsche Messe AG and is under the patronage of Economics Minister Dr Robert Habeck.
Project Manager Cornelia Müller-Pagel was delighted to receive the award: "We are incredibly grateful for this award. Since the ground-breaking ceremony last year, we have already achieved significant milestones, such as Germany's first supply contract for green hydrogen and the topping-out ceremony for the 30 MW large-scale electrolyser building. In the meantime, the first value-added stage, the wind farm with 8 wind turbines and an output of 50 megawatts, is already nearing completion. This award shows us that we are on the right track and emphasises the importance of the project for the future of green hydrogen in Germany. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our partners who are passionate about Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park. The H2Eco Award is a further incentive to continue on our path with all our enthusiasm and energy."
Prof Dr Krause and his team from the DBI are providing scientific support for Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park. He was also delighted to receive the award: "The huge interest in, and support for, our project inspire us in our day-to-day project work on the way to realising Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park. As a real-life laboratory for the energy transition, Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park is a beacon and has already inspired many other hydrogen projects. It is a unique opportunity for us to test new technologies and solutions under real conditions and at industrial scale. We want to get forward-looking concepts for a secure and climate-neutral energy supply with green hydrogen off the ground in Germany as quickly as possible."
The H2Eco Award is endowed with prize money of EUR 5,000 and is presented to a project that makes a relevant energy industry contribution to the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. The prize money will go to initiatives that are seeking to tackle the issue on a small scale. This year, the Heinze Academy in Hamburg will receive the donation. It offers a certified training course for Ukrainian refugees to train them as skilled workers in the hydrogen industry.
