Official inauguration of the wind farm and public information day
On Saturday, 21 September 2024, representatives of the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park invited the public to an information day. Between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., interested members of the public were able to gain insights into the progress of this real-world laboratory for the energy transition located in Central Germany for the third time since the project started in September 2021. The occasion for this event was the completion of the associated wind farm. Prof. Dr. Armin Willingmann, the Energy Minister of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, together with the project partners of the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park, ceremonially inaugurated the EUR 73 million wind farm.
The associated public information day offered visitors the opportunity to see the wind farm up close, as both the ceremony and the information fair were held directly at the foot of one of the wind turbines. In discussions with members of the public, representatives of the consortium consisting of Terrawatt Planungsgesellschaft, Uniper, VNG Handel & Vertrieb, VNG Gasspeicher, Ontras, DBI – Gastechnologisches Institut Freiberg and VNG provided information about the project in general and the current status of the construction measures in the individual value creation stages: electrolysis, transport, storage and marketing/application.
The Leipzig-based company Terrawatt Planungsgesellschaft mbH is responsible for the construction and operation of the wind farm with a nominal output of 50 megawatts. Construction work began in April 2023 with the building of the site access roads and assembly areas as well as the laying of the foundations. After the delivery of the first tower elements, nacelles and rotor blades of the V 162-6.2 MW model from Vestas in late summer, assembly work finally began in October. The first of the eight wind turbines went online in January and was in fact the first wind turbine to come on stream in Germany in 2024. Since then, the remaining turbines have also been assembled and connected in stages. On 22 April 2024, the last rotor blade was finally installed.
Back in the second half of 2023, a dedicated substation was built and put into operation in the immediate vicinity of the wind farm. This means that the generated electricity can be initially fed into the public grid prior to completion of the electrolysis plant, thus supporting the regional, climate-neutral energy supply. With the commissioning of the 30-megawatt pressurised alkaline electrolyser from the Dresden manufacturer Sunfire, the green electricity will primarily be provided directly for electrolysis, where it will be converted into green hydrogen. The wind farm and the electrolyser are directly connected to each other, in parallel to the public grid. In normal operation, up to 100 percent of the green electricity will be made available to the electrolyser. Trial operation of the electrolyser is expected to start in mid-2025. According to current planning, the Total Energies refinery in Leuna is scheduled to be supplied with hydrogen beginning in the second half of 2025 as the first customer of the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park.
Minister Prof. Dr. Armin Willingmann (Ministry of Science, Energy, Climate Protection and Environment of the State of Saxony-Anhalt): “The Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park is one of the flagship projects in the development of the climate-neutral hydrogen economy in Saxony-Anhalt. I am very pleased that the official opening of the wind farm marks another important milestone in the realisation of the project. We will continue to consistently drive forward the development of the hydrogen economy, including on the part of the state government. By 2045, more than 20,000 additional jobs could be created in this future-oriented industry in Saxony-Anhalt alone. We need to do the groundwork for this now.”
Dipl.-Ing. Falk Zeuner (Managing Director of Terrawatt Planungsgesellschaft mbH): “It is a moving moment when the vision and the lines on a plan actually become working systems. With the direct electrical coupling of a wind farm to a large electrolyser, we are breaking new ground in several respects. In addition to producing large quantities of storable green hydrogen, we are utilising the special properties of this combination to support and relieve the load on the electricity grid – thus also establishing an important building block for future decentralised and renewable energy supplies. We owe our success to the persistence, creativity and patience as well as the courage and hard work of the project engineers involved. In addition, support from politicians, ministries and authorities is an important condition for the success of the project. The basis for all of this, however, is the excellent partnership and collaboration of all those involved in the project, starting with the local municipalities, the property owners and managers, the grid operator and the plant manufacturers, and of course the consortium partners and many others.”
Cornelia Müller-Pagel (Project Manager Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park and Head of Green Gases VNG AG): “It is impressive to see the ambitious pace at which work on the eight wind turbines was completed. In just 12 months, the giant turbines were successfully erected on the site in the south of Saxony-Anhalt. In the future, the wind turbines, which are between 119 and 169 metres high, will generate up to 145 million kWh of green electricity annually, primarily for the production of green hydrogen in the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park. It is another significant milestone in our flagship project, which we are celebrating on Saturday. At the same time, this marks the first stage of green hydrogen production in the heart of Central Germany,” says Cornelia Müller Pagel, project manager of the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park and Head of Green Gases at VNG AG.

