German gas power plant to convert to hydrogen by 2035

Stadtwerke Kiel notes conversion will depend on ‘abundance’ of green hydrogen supply in Europe

German company Stadtwerke Kiel has announced its gas-fired 192MW combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plant will operate on 100pc green hydrogen by 2035—ten years before the country’s net-zero target. The utility has signed a memorandum of understanding with the plant’s engine provider, Innio, to convert the plant’s existing engines to run on hydrogen. The Kiel CHP plant was brought online in 2019, following the decommissioning of a coal-fired facility. At the time, the plant was lauded as a way to provide backup power to an increasingly renewables-dominated grid, while emitting 70pc less CO₂ than the previous power plant. But as natural gas prices have surged and Germany faces increasing pressure