Plans to build one of Europe's largest green energy hubs on the site of disused coal-fired power plant units in eastern Germany have been postponed indefinitely, energy firm LEAG said on Friday.
The announcement comes a week after ArcelorMittal dropped plans to convert two German steel plants to carbon-neutral production, citing high energy costs.
LEAG said H2UB Boxberg was being postponed as political and economic conditions for the plant had not developed as expected.
It said the previous coalition government had indefinitely delayed implementation of the federal Power Plant Safety Act, a key regulatory pre-condition.
"We are currently postponing plans for hydrogen production in Boxberg and initially shifting our focus to other technologies for the generation, storage, and flexible provision of electricity," a LEAG spokesperson said.
LEAG announced the project in April 2024. It called for the construction of a centre for hydrogen production and energy use, along with large-scale green electricity storage, on the grounds of lignite-fired power station units that were decommissioned in the 1990s.
In 2023, the company announced its ambition to bring 7 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind capacity online by 2030 and committed to investing 1 billion euros annually.
LEAG is based in eastern Germany's Lusatia region and owned by Czech investor EPH.
It said there was no reliable implementation schedule yet for the timely and cost-effective availability of hydrogen infrastructure in the region.
"The hydrogen economy is far from its expected increase. Uncertainty regarding availability and prices in a future hydrogen market is high," the spokesperson said.
Germany phased out nuclear power in 2023 and aims to end coal-fired power use in 2038.
There are still two 500-megawatt lignite-fired units in operation at Boxberg which are expected to operate until 2029.
(Reuters, June 27, 2025)
