Svevind Group starts one of the largest hydrogen projects

For comparison: 40 GW is the federal government’s expansion target for all offshore wind energy in the Baltic and North Seas by 2035. The EU wants to import ten million tons of green hydrogen by 2030.

So far, however, there are still a few questions to be clarified: by 2026, they want to look for shareholders for the project and get the necessary approval procedures for the construction of the systems underway, says Wolfgang Kropp, founder and CEO of the Svevind Energy Group, the Handelsblatt. In the end, the fourth largest production facility for green hydrogen in the world will be created.

The former Siemens and Nixdorf manager, who has been in the wind power industry since 1993, does not expect any major problems: “If it cannot be financed under the conditions in Kazakhstan, where can it?” Because wind conditions prevailed in the Kazakh steppe like in the North Sea and sunshine like in Spain. “This combination is unique,” says Kropp, and it results in production costs for renewable electricity and electrolysis at the lower end of the price scale.

Potential for green steel and aluminum

In addition, Kazakhstan is “ideally located between the target markets of Asia and Europe”. And the project comes at the right time: If the world wants to become climate-neutral, it will need green hydrogen in the foreseeable future. The demand for green energy and hydrogen is high. Many companies that currently rely on natural gas are looking for climate-neutral alternatives. So far, it has not been clarified who will be responsible for the large investments. In addition to internationally active energy companies, Kropp also sees Kazakh industry as a possible partner.

Because the project also fits into Kazakhstan’s industrial strategy: Instead of relying solely on the export of raw materials and ores in the future, the country wants to export higher-quality products and increase the added value in the country. Therefore, a hydrogen project based on renewable energies could also lead to the production of “green” steel or “green” aluminum in Kazakhstan and supplying it to world markets. The $69 billion Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund, number 24 among global sovereign investment funds, could help.

It has not yet been decided where the two million tons of green hydrogen from the Hyrasia One project will end up: mostly in Kazakhstan itself or in Europe or Asia. To Europe, the H2 would have to be brought as ammonia across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan – bypassing Russia – and from there delivered westwards by rail.

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If necessary, existing pipelines to be converted to hydrogen could be used to export oil and natural gas to China. For a pipeline transport to Europe, a pipeline would have to be built through the Caspian Sea. But Russia had already prevented such a pipeline for the export of oil and natural gas for decades.

Industry goes from Russia to Kazakhstan

The EU and the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus now want to expand the so-called “southern corridor” by rail together with Turkey. Kazakhstan is also increasingly becoming the center of attention when it comes to relocating foreign industrial production out of Russia because of Western sanctions.

Most recently, the South Korean electronics group LG had publicly considered moving from the Moscow area to Kazakhstan. “A lot of things will be reoriented as a result of the Ukraine war,” Kropp is convinced.

Kazakhstan has long been one of Russia’s most important partners, but is increasingly critical of its large neighbor.

The EU wants to reach an agreement with the Central Asian country in November on a strategic partnership for sustainable raw materials, batteries and green hydrogen. Corresponding talks have already been held by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Kazakhstan’s President Tokayev.

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The agreement now concluded with the government of Kazakhstan is a “huge milestone”, according to Kropp. Now the general engineering planning for the project that has already been carried out can be implemented in concrete terms. In 2032, the plants should run at full capacity. According to the project papers, two-thirds of the electricity should be generated from wind turbines and one-third from the sun via photovoltaics.

The biggest problem so far has been the insufficient production capacity of electrolysers – plants for the production of two million tons of H2 annually can hardly be manufactured so far. And wind and solar systems of 40 GW are also ambitious: the three nuclear power plants still in operation in Germany together produce 4.3 gigawatt hours of electricity.

Only one project in Spain with a production capacity of 3.6 million tons of H2 and one in Australia (3.5 million tons) and one in Texas (3 million tons) are larger than the German project in Kazakhstan.

Svevind from Dresden is considered to be experienced in the implementation of large-scale projects: In northern Sweden, the Saxons have implemented wind turbines with a capacity of 1.7 gigawatts, which are now being expanded to 3.4 GW and are set to become one of the world’s largest wind farms.

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