RAG Austria AG and ENERGIEALLIANZ Austria to back on green hydrogen

NATURKRAFT, a subsidiary of ENERGIEALLIANZ Austria (EAA), is to start supplying the hydrogen production facility of RAG Austria AG, a member of DIE GAS- und WASSERSTOFFWIRTSCHAFT, at its site in Gampern, Upper Austria. From June 2025 until the end of 2026, the hydrogen plant will be supplied with three gigawatt hours of green electricity from Austrian renewable sources a year. This cooperation with RAG Austria strengthens EAA's commitment to green hydrogen as a central component of the Austrian energy transition.

Markus Mitteregger, CEO of RAG Austria, emphasizes: "We are making summer electricity storable in the long term. This essential service makes it possible to supply green energy even in winter. We offer the solution for the year-round renewable energy system and thus also support domestic value creation."

With hydrogen, the energy supply in winter can also be guaranteed in the event of variations in solar, wind and hydropower - for example during winter doldrums or low water levels in rivers.

At the Rubensdorf cross-sector demonstration plant, Austrian green electricity is converted into CO2-neutral hydrogen by means of electrolysis. The hydrogen produced by splitting green electricity is stored in the "Underground Sun Storage" in Gampern as part of the European follow-up project "EUH2STARS". The storage facility has been in operation since April 2023 and is the world's first 100% hydrogen storage in an underground pore storage facility. With a storage volume of 4.2 GWh, the facility corresponds to the summer electricity surplus of around 1,000 photovoltaic systems on single-family homes.

"I am delighted that we are part of this innovative and pioneering project. By supplying RAG's electrolysis plant in Rubensdorf with green electricity from our subsidiary Naturkraft, we are enabling the production of green hydrogen and making an important contribution to the energy transition," says Thomas Torda, Managing Director of ENERGIEALLIANZ Austria, about the pilot project.