Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck: 28.5 million euros for reference power Lausitz (RefLau)
The money comes from the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) for the joint project "Reallabor: RefLau - Referenzkraftwerk Lausitz". The handover took place at RefLau's company site, the Gründer- und Kompetenzzentrum Dock3 Lausitz.
The project "Reference Power Plant Lusatia" (RefLau) had prevailed in 2019 in the nationwide ideas competition "Reallabore der Energiewende" of the Federal Ministry of Economics and received a funding commitment. The strategic goal is to map the future energy supply based on renewable energy sources and hydrogen, including the storage and reconversion of hydrogen into electricity at the Schwarze Pumpe industrial site. Identifying offtake potentials for hydrogen in the region is another objective of RefLau. By the time the plant is commissioned at the end of 2025, the first customers will have been secured and synergies will have been harnessed in the establishment of a hydrogen economy. At the site in the Schwarze Pumpe industrial park, the novel power plant concept using only renewable energies, such as wind and solar power, will demonstrate the possibilities of sector coupling. The production of green hydrogen will enable the use of renewably generated energy in the transport, industry and heating sectors, thus taking an important step towards reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Thus, in addition to hydrogen and heat, RefLau can also provide all the system services of a coal-fired power plant. In addition, the project of the partners Energiequelle, ENERTRAG and the Zweckverband Industriepark Schwarze Pumpe (ZV ISP) will open up new value-added potential for the region. It will serve as a reference for the conversion of conventional power plant sites to renewable energy generation. There are plans to scale up the project at a site in Lusatia. Research and development partners for the joint project "Reallabor: Referenzkraftwerk Lausitz" are Fraunhofer IEG, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and Dresden University of Technology.
The project is supported by ASG Spremberg GmbH, the economic development agency of Spremberg and Spreetal.
Statements:
Federal Minister
Dr. Robert Habeck, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection: "With the Lausitz reference power plant, the BMWK is funding an important real laboratory that marks a milestone in the transformation from a lignite mining region to an energy transition region. Together with the states of Brandenburg and Saxony, we are today taking a step into the future here in Lusatia, an important step toward climate neutrality. And it also strengthens the competitiveness of the transnational business location. The Reallabor is a project from the region for the region. I would like to thank all those involved who believed in the project and are now making it a reality."
State Minister
Jörg Steinbach, Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, State of Brandenburg: "The official go-ahead for the reference power plant is a milestone for the energy transition in Brandenburg, which we have been working on here for more than a decade in all areas - i.e. electricity, heat, transport and industry. RefLau will set innovative standards by using only renewable energy and providing all the system services of a conventional power plant. In addition, it will enable broad sector coupling - and it is precisely sector coupling that is essential for the success of the energy transition and more climate protection. I am convinced: the RefLau will be the blueprint for the power plants of the future."
Thomas Schmidt, Saxony's Minister of State for Regional Development: "Future sustainable energy production is unthinkable without hydrogen. The reference power plant makes a contribution to ensuring that Lusatia remains an energy region in the future. At the same time, the existing know-how in the field of energy production will be put to good use and further developed. The new power plant will help establish the entire hydrogen value chain in Lusatia. If it succeeds, there will also be great opportunities for growth and employment."
RefLau management
Dr. Ben Schüppel, Managing Director RefLau GmbH: "RefLau is an outstanding and ambitious project, as it not only aims to build an electrolysis plant with reverse power generation, but rather to demonstrate that doing business with renewable energies is sustainable and possible without restrictions."
Corporate partners*
Christine Herntier Mayor of the City of Spremberg,Member of the Association Assembly of the Schwarze Pumpe Industrial Park Special Purpose Association: "The Lusatia reference power plant is an indispensable component in the transformation process of the Schwarze Pumpe/Carna Plumpa Industrial Park from a former mono-location of coal-fired power generation and refinement to a green industrial park. Indispensable on this path is the close interaction between science and industry, here on site at the industrial park."
Michael Raschemann, Managing Director of Energiequelle GmbH: "RefLau offers a concrete perspective for the transformation of the lignite-based energy region of Lausitz. We are pleased to accompany this path with our forward-looking project."
Dr. Gunar Hering, CEO of ENERTRAG SE: "We are delighted that, together with our partners, we are able to realize a lighthouse project with charisma for the entire region and beyond. In Lusatia, which is steeped in tradition and shaped by mining and energy production, the energy turnaround is now taking place - with electricity from renewable energies and green hydrogen."
Partner Research & Development
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Hübner, Vice President for Research and Transfer at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg: "Highly efficient and economical systems of hybrid electricity, heat and hydrogen supply as well as their storage are a central building block of the energy transition. Equally important is their integration into existing and new supply networks. In cooperation with the collaborative partners in the Reference Power Plant Lausitz project, we are researching innovative control and operating concepts for energy generation, distribution and supply along our 'Energy Transition and Decarbonization' profile line."
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johannes Schiffer, Department of Control Systems and Network Control Technology at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg: "With the transformation of energy systems, the traditional control variables of the network, namely the conventional power plants with their rotating masses, are falling away. This poses enormous challenges for grid control and system management. With green hydrogen generation and sector coupling, RefLau as an innovative power plant sets new standards in energy technology and marketing - for Lusatia and far beyond."
Prof. Mario Ragwitz, Institute Director Fraunhofer IEG: "In the power supply based on renewable energies, green hydrogen plays a crucial role as a seasonal energy storage. Fraunhofer IEG and its research partners are setting up the RefLau real laboratory and looking at how the power plant will fit into the market of the future. We analyze its system, grid and market integration and demonstrate how it supports the electricity transition with hydrogen reconversion and other system services."
Prof. Steffen Bernet, TU Dresden, Chair of Power Electronics: "Replacing fossil fuels is one of the great challenges of our time. The reference power plant Lausitz excellently demonstrates the potential of green hydrogen as energy storage and for sector coupling. In addition, it provides all system services that are important for the operation of electrical grids."
Prof. Michael Beckmann, TU Dresden, Chair of Energy Process Engineering: "The use of wind power and PV for the supply-secure and climate-neutral provision of electrical energy can only develop its full effectiveness through energy storage and reconversion into electricity. In this context, the reference power plant will make a very significant contribution to increasing the technical maturity of the overall process."
www.asg-spremberg.de/wirtschaftsstandort/schwarze-pumpewww.dock3-lausitz.de
Spokesperson
