ITM Power has been selected as the technology partner and supplier by Stablegrid Group for two hydrogen grid-balancing projects in Germany, with a combined electrolyser capacity of 710MW.
The projects aim to provide grid-friendly loads and expand hydrogen production capacities, which are seen as essential for supporting the growth of renewable energy in the region.
The two projects will focus on grid balancing and power system stabilisation, and will utilise underground caverns for hydrogen storage facilities.
This approach is designed to absorb discrepancies between electricity supply and hydrogen consumption through a process known to as 'predispatch'.
The operation mode, called 'Netzbrücke' or 'grid bridge' is primarily designed to lower the need for 'redispatch' in the German electricity grid.
Redispatch is a grid operator intervention used to eliminate bottlenecks by adjusting power plant output - reducing generation ahead of a congestion point and increasing generation behind it.
The first project, 'Netzbrücke 410', will be located in Rüstringen, Germany.
ITM Power has been chosen to supply a 30MW green hydrogen production plant featuring its NEPTUNE V containerised electrolysers, along with integration works.
Stablegrid plans to reach a final investment decision (FID) on this project in 2026 and has reserved the necessary production capacity with ITM Power.
The second project will add 680MW of indoor electrolyser capacity.
Stablegrid and ITM Power are scheduled to commence the pre-front-end engineering design work in January 2026, with an FID anticipated in 2028.
Stablegrid management board member Oliver Feller said: "With ITM Power, we have a strong and experienced partner at our side who brings the technical expertise and excellence required to implement system-stabilising hydrogen projects of this magnitude reliably."
As renewable energy expands, which is weather-dependent and unevenly distributed geographically, it has made redispatch increasingly necessary.
According to industry data, negative redispatch currently results in annual costs of €2bn ($2.3bn) to €3bn to German taxpayers.
By reducing these costs to zero and putting surplus energy to productive use, the complementary hybrid redispatch or predispatch method is expected to deliver significant cost savings and support the further expansion of renewable energy in Germany, according to ITM Power.
ITM Power CEO Dennis Schulz said: "Partnering with Stablegrid on these landmark grid-balancing projects in Germany reinforces ITM's position at the forefront of the energy transition in Europe's largest economy."
