Work Starts on German Ammonia-to-Hydrogen Cracker Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Uniper (Dusseldorf, Germany) and Thyssenkrupp Uhde (Dortmund, Germany) are forging ahead with the construction of an industrial-scale ammonia-to-hydrogen cracker plant in northwestern Germany.

Located at Uniper's Gelsenkirchen-Scholven power plant the demonstration plant will have a capacity of 28 tonnes of hydrogen per day. The cracker will take ammonia and catalytically break it down into its components, hydrogen and nitrogen, at high temperatures, and pure hydrogen will be produced in a purification process. Described as "one of the first of its kind in the world," it will serve as the basis for the planned hydrogen import terminal in Wilhelmshaven, also in northwestern Germany, where the technology is to be applied on a large industrial scale in a second phase.

The project has received the backing of the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia and construction is underway with planned commissioning at the end of 2026. "Hydrogen is one of the key technologies for the future viability of our industry in North Rhine-Westphalia," said Mona Neubaur, Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection, and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. "Like no other federal state, we need energy and raw materials for our economy and prosperity. With the help of ammonia cracking technology, we are opening up the possibility of obtaining green energy from numerous regions around the world. In doing so, we are strengthening the resilience of our business location and demonstrating how sustainability and security of supply can work together." Industrial Info is tracking 143 green hydrogen-related projects in Germany worth more than US$17 billion in investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.

Holger Kreetz, chief operating officer for Uniper, commented: "Our aim is to strengthen the resilience of the economy. In order to meet Germany's future hydrogen needs, we are dependent on imports from abroad. The partnership between Uniper and thyssenkrupp Uhde is therefore an important milestone for the hydrogen ramp-up and the decarbonization of industry. With the ammonia cracker in Scholven, we're laying the groundwork to trade hydrogen internationally and making it available across industries."

In April, Industrial Info reported on the commissioning of Germany's largest green hydrogen electrolyzer at Ludwigshafen Verbund in the southwest of the country by chemicals major BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) and Siemens Energy (Munich, Germany). The 54-megawatt (MW) proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer is powered by renewable energy and can produce up to one metric ton of clean hydrogen per hour which will be used as feedstock at the plant. For additional information, see April 2, 2025, article - Germany's Largest Green Hydrogen Plant Online.

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