At the Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter, the construction of an industrial power-to-X plant by MAN Energy Solutions with at least 50 MW electrolysis capacity is a medium-term goal. The plant will produce green hydrogen in large quantities and will convert this, in a further step known as methanation, into synthetic natural gas (SNG). The SNG is completely climate-neutral and can be utilized in a variety of ways in the energy, transportation and building sectors.

A 50 MW plant can, for example, produce 14,500 tonnes of synthetic natural gas (SNG) per year. With this amount of fuel, 470 natural-gas-powered local buses can each cover 60,000 CO₂-neutral kilometers. With the help of power-to-X, green electricity will therefore also be available outside the power grids, and sector coupling will become a reality.

Planning is already underway within the framework of the “Sector Coupling” pilot project, with realization targeted from 2022 onwards. The prerequisite is the provision of investment funds by investors or the public sector, as well as a subsidy for operating costs, as explicitly stated in the German government’s National Hydrogen Strategy.