Despite AfD and BSW - East Germany becomes a prime example of the energy transition
At a site behind the former Atomkraftwerk Lubmin, Stephan Knabe is planning the future. On six hectares in the shadow of the idled cooling tower, a large electrolysis plant is to produce hydrogen from water. This is set to begin in 2026, according to the founder of the company Deutsche Regas. Likewise, a floating terminal at the Lubmin harbor is to convert shipped ammonia into hydrogen starting in 2026. The gas is to flow south through a pipeline originally built for natural gas from the Nord-Stream pipeline. The first converted section is expected to go online in 2025.
There's a lot of "will" and "wants," but Knabe and pipeline operator Gascade leave no doubt: They're investing a lot in Germany's energy transition, the shift to renewable energies, in which hydrogen is to play a decisive role. The plans sound very concrete. That's probably why Carsten Schneider, the Eastern Commissioner, is making a stop on his summer tour at the two companies at the Lubmin harbor. The whole tour is meant to clearly show: The energy transition is in full swing – even if there's headwind at the moment.
AfD and BSW are deliberately setting up resistance against the energy transition
The AfD is celebrating electoral success with a party that denies human-induced climate change and wants to stop the energy transition. They want to go back to nuclear power, coal, and gas. The rising Bundnis Sahra Wagenknecht is also demanding a return to cheap gas from Russia. "Germany's energy supply cannot be secured solely with renewable energies within the framework of today's technologies," it says in the BSW founding manifesto. There are bitter opponents against every new wind turbine, every solar park in many places.
Schneider is aware of all this. "One should not be naive," says the SPD politician. "In the coming years, it will be hard to implement the various installations, as the opponents are deliberately used by BSW and the AfD." The traffic light coalition wants to counteract this.
In the first half of 2024, Germany obtained almost 60 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Eastern Germany is disproportionately contributing to the energy transition, says Schneider. 15 percent of the population, but 27 percent of the renewable energy. Without Eastern Germany, there would be no energy transition. Schneider thinks this is "still not positively reported enough."
Hydrogen in Schwedt, nuclear fusion in Greifswald
Schneider tells a positive story first about the PCK Schwedt refinery. The large refinery in northeastern Brandenburg has stopped taking Russian oil on the orders of the federal government since the beginning of 2023 due to the Ukraine conflict. A harsh break. But it's been compensated, the supply sources have been successfully changed, the German government says. The utilization rate is back up to 80 percent – not as high as before with Russian oil, but high enough for economic operation.
Schwedt's future is also being planned with hydrogen, although not as concretely and in the short term as in Lubmin. Schwedt's mayor Annekathrin Hoppe (SPD), who was very concerned about the future of the refinery and the city just a year ago, now says: "My optimism now outweighs my concerns." Schneider is very pleased. A success story from the east.
In Schwedt, hydrogen is to be produced from natural gas using steam methane reforming, and the resulting CO2 is to be stored underground. The first plant is to be built by 2026. In Greifswald, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics is working on nuclear fusion, which could provide a virtually inexhaustible source of hydrogen. The first experiments are planned for 2025. The federal government is investing €3.5 billion in the project.
Schneider is convinced that the energy transition is unstoppable and that Germany will become a leading hydrogen economy. He also emphasizes the importance of international cooperation, especially with neighboring Poland, which is also planning a hydrogen economy. The European Union is also working on a hydrogen strategy. Schneider is optimistic about the future and sees the energy transition as an opportunity for Eastern Germany to develop new industries and create jobs.
"Promising prospects also exist for progress in nuclear fusion at the Max Planck Institute for Plasmaphysics in Greifswald. In a large hall there, they are experimenting with a device called a Stellarator, a several stories high monster made up of coils, tubes, wires, and valves. The goal, as everywhere in the billion-dollar fusion research worldwide: to demonstrate that large-scale energy can be obtained through nuclear fusion and also commercially utilized. It could supplement electricity from wind or the sun some day.
Institute director Robert Wolf remains cautious, the 60-year-old not wanting to promise too much. But during Schneider's visit, he manages to make this statement: "I think we can build such a plant. The question then is, is it economically viable or not. The question has not been definitively answered." The breakthrough is not necessarily just around the corner. As a timeline for a "fusion demonstrator," Wolf mentions 2050.
Inventiveness! Investments! Support! Jobs! Departure! That's what Schneider likes to focus on. That many citizens in the East have doubts about the politics of the traffic light and choose to protest: the federal government can only rely on the fact that this passes and the positive story is told.
The representatives of Regas and Gascade in the Lubminer Harbor can hardly begin to grapple with the question of whether the political environment and doubts about the energy transition could hold them back. The thought has not yet occurred to them. After a brief moment of reflection, Gascade manager Dennis Wehmeyer says: "We work every day to provide the proof that it works.""
In the context of Germany's energy transition, Schwedt is also involved, planning to produce hydrogen from natural gas using steam methane reforming. This project is expected to begin with the construction of the first plant in 2026. (Schwedt)
Meanwhile, in Greifswald, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics is focusing on nuclear fusion, aiming to produce a virtually inexhaustible source of hydrogen. The first experiments are scheduled for 2025, with the German government investing €3.5 billion into the project. (East Germany)
