As early as last November, Switzerland saw the opening of its first public hydrogen station. But soon, it will create a whole new chapter with a fleet of hydrogen trucks to be brought into operation. A prototype has already been in use in the Zurich area.
It’s getting serious in Switzerland: Swiss utility IBAarau reported in mid-June 2016 that it had taken concrete steps to let the project initiated by H2 Energy and Coop Mineraloel (see Coop Sticks Around – Axpo Quits) become reality. IBAarau has recently submitted a building application to set up an H2 production system at the company’s hydropower plant in Aarau, Switzerland. The plant is said to provide 2% of its power generation for the envisioned electrolysis system plus compressor station from 2017 on.
Despite announcements to the contrary, the H2 project in Glattfelden in the Swiss canton of Zurich (see HZwei issue from July 2015) will deliver on its promises. At the beginning of March 2016, rumors had it that Axpo and Coop would stop their joint project. The project’s coordinator, Hansjörg Vock from H2 Energy, told H2-international that “the rumors weren’t true,” as “only Axpo had exited the project,” but had done so by mutual agreement.
In Switzerland, the initial trials for the development of an infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles are now underway. At the start of April 2015, a consortium of companies announced that the first public hydrogen filling station is to be built in early 2016. The fuel to be used there is to be produced sustainably using hydroelectric power. For this purpose, the energy services group Axpo, one of the biggest producers of renewable energy in the Alpine state, is planning to construct an electrolyzer directly adjacent to one of its existing run-of-the-river power plants. The hydrogen