The research consortium for the reference power plant, of which the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (Germany) is a member, received a funding of 28.5 million euros in February 2023.
The “Reference Power Plant Lusatia” project had prevailed in 2019 in the nationwide ideas competition “Real laboratories of the energy transition” organised by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and received a funding commitment. The money for the joint project comes from the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF). The handover took place at the 22th February in the competence centre Dock3 Lusatia.
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 industrial site. Another goal of the reference power plant is to identify the potential for hydrogen consumption in the region. By the time the plant goes into operation 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.
The novel power plant concept is intended to demonstrate the possibilities of sector coupling using only renewable energies such as wind and solar power. The production of green hydrogen enables the use of renewably generated energy in the transport, industry and heating sectors, thus taking an important step towards reducing dependence on fossil fuels. In addition to hydrogen and heat, the reference power plant can also provide all the system services of a coal-fired power plant.
It is intended to serve as a reference for the conversion of conventional power plant sites to renewable energy generation.
Caption: Explanation of the reference power plant on the model (Photo: Sascha Thor, BTU)
