"Throughout Germany, the region in and around Heide is 'right, right at the forefront'," the Dithmarscher Landeszeitung quoted Andreas Hein, the energy policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group in Schleswig-Holstein, as saying on 28 May 2021. More than 230 projects had applied for funding within the framework of "Hydrogen IPCEI - Important Projects of Common European Interest". Only 62 were selected - including the first phase of the HySCALE100 project initiated by a consortium around the Heide refinery in Hemmingstedt.

It produces "green hydrogen" with wind and solar energy from the west coast. The hydrogen is to be stored in an underground cavern by e.g. BeBa Energie. In this way, the natural fluctuations in energy production from wind power and photovoltaic plants can be balanced out. The hydrogen produced and stored is to be used, among other things, for the large-scale production of methanol and green paraffin.

This is what Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier says about the 62 funded projects. And further: "To achieve this, we are joining forces in Europe and triggering massive investments in the future technology of hydrogen through the first joint European hydrogen project."

It produces "green hydrogen" with wind and solar energy from the west coast. The hydrogen is to be stored in underground caverns, e.g. by BeBa Energie. In this way, the natural fluctuations in energy production from wind power and photovoltaic plants can be balanced out. The hydrogen produced and stored is to be used, among other things, for the large-scale production of methanol and green paraffin.

According to the Dithmarscher Landeszeitung, the managing director of Raffinerie Heide GmbH, Jürgen Wollschläger, expects at least 120 to 130 million euros to flow to the Heide project from the funding volume of eight billion euros. This would be about one fifth of the investments for the first project phase of 600 to 650 million euros.