Rolls-Royce, Sowitec strive toward 500-MW electrolysis capacity

Rolls-Royce’s Power Systems business unit and Sowitec Group GmbH, a specialist in renewable energy projects, are cooperating with the goal of providing Power-to-X projects with a total electrolysis capacity of up to 500 MW by 2028. The plants will use renewable energy sources to generate electrical power, which will in turn be used to produce hydrogen for use as fuel for fuel cells and hydrogen engines, production of industrial feedstock and production of sustainable e-fuels for marine, aviation, agriculture, mining and data center power.

(From left to right) Gerd Hummel, managing director/ CDO at Sowitec and Andreas Görtz, president Sustainable Power Solutions at Rolls-Royce. (Photo: Rolls-Royce)

Rolls-Royce will bring to the cooperation a range of new mtu products – including electrolyzers, fuel cell systems and hydrogen engines – for production and use of sustainable fuels based on green hydrogen. It will also contribute its experience with hydrogen ecosystems and in simulation, design and optimization of decentralized energy supply systems.

Sowitec, based in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, has over 4.2 GW of solar and wind projects installed in South America, Europe and Asia. It has experience in developing financeable turnkey renewable energy projects from concept to implementation, including investor sourcing, and has been working on Power-to-X plants since 2017.

In announcing the cooperation, Frank Hummel, CEO of Sowitec Group GmbH, commented: “In Rolls-Royce Power Systems, with its innovative products and global sales and service network, we see a competent partner to jointly deliver integrated green hydrogen ecosystems from a single source. We are pursuing the vision of a global energy supply based on renewable energies and providing access to clean and affordable energy for all people and are developing competitive projects accordingly.”

“With this project, we are actively working to reduce greenhouse gases in industry,” added Andreas Görtz, president of the Sustainable Power Solutions business division at Rolls-Royce Power Systems. “We are convinced that with our new sustainable mtu technologies and through the cooperation with Sowitec, we can successfully drive the expansion of Power-to-X plants.”