The realization that we need a lot of green hydrogen very quickly, not only in Germany and Europe, but also worldwide, is becoming more and more widespread. Germany has already made the decision to phase out nuclear energy and coal. And after Putin’s attack on Ukraine, natural gas is also under examination. The plan was to make the gas grid greener and greener. Now, there is discussion about a much faster ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. Which scenarios are conceivable for this?
Europe
Plug Power expands to Europe
The US corporation Plug Power opened its European headquarters in Duisburg, Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW) on March 18th, 2022. The new production site of Plug Europe lies at the center of Duisburger Hafen, the world’s largest inland port. CEO Andy Marsh had really wanted to make a special trip from the United States to make the opening speech, but he was unable to because of a corona infection. Chris Suriano stepped in for him. Suriano declared, “Our local presence is very important in our key markets.” He smugly added, “We have only just begun.”
Colorful path to a green future
2nd round of HyLand competition kicks off
“We’re not talking about Champagne, we’re talking about table water.” This was the pronouncement of Katherina Reiche, chairwoman of Germany’s National Hydrogen Council, as she instigated proceedings at this year’s H2Congress. On Jan. 26 and 27, 2021, over 3,000 attendees gathered online for a joint conference consolidating the NIP General Assembly and the German Hydrogen Congress. In among the discussions came the announcement that the second round of the HyLand competition would soon open.
Vying for visitors
Competition among trade show organizers in Germany is now ramping up in the energy storage as well as the electric transportation arena. More and more event providers want to establish hubs of emerging technologies and draw industry-wide interest to their locations. The most recent example of this type of effort is
Synergies Between Space Flight, Energy and Transportation
The Institute of Space Propulsion of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Lampoldshausen is one of Europe‘s largest hydrogen consumers. The organization primarily uses cryogenic hydrogen to test the main and upper stage engines of Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket. The experiences made during those tests will now be expanded even further: Together with ZEAG Energie, the DLR is planning to implement a regenerative hydrogen process chain. It creates the required hydrogen in a 1 MW PEM electrolysis system, which draws its power from the neighboring wind farm Harthäuser Wald
Energy Storage Europe Continues to Grow
Expectations exceeded – this best sums up the three days from March 15 to 17 in Düsseldorf, Germany. In its fifth year, the Energy Storage Europe (ESE) and the four events taking place at the same time were able to attract an even greater number of participants: around 50% more exhibitors and 60% more attendees from the industry compared to the previous year. The mood in the Congress Center Düsseldorf right next to the Rhine was cheerful – and rightly so.
H2 Storage Ground Under
Europe’s first research facility to test the storage opportunities for hydrogen at former natural gas reservoirs was inaugurated last fall in Austria’s city of Pilsbach. On October 5, Austria‘s Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology, Alois Stöger, celebrated the inauguration of the plant, which is part of the EUR 4.5 million project Underground Sun Storage
Power-to-gas is now en vogue in Europe
The political statements are now being trotted out on an almost weekly basis. This should come as no surprise, since more power-to-gas projects are now starting than ever before. We repeatedly hear things like “PtG technology has the potential to lead the energy transition to success.” Such statements were to be heard most recently, for example, at the commissioning of the facility in Ibbenbüren and in Mainz, and also at the initialization of the project in Solothurn, Switzerland.
Brussels has decided on H2 fuel
While the further development of the H2 and FC technology is diligently perfected in the laboratories and workshops using new catalyst materials or production processes, elsewhere – just as diligently – discussions are taking place about the political framework conditions. In spring 2015, it was decided in Brussels that in the future, during the refining of fuels, hydrogen which is produced from renewable energies will gain a multiple offsetting against the biofuel quota, but “only” by a factor of two and not – as requested by many – by a factor of four.
Frömmel and Melczer elected to the NEW-IG
At its annual meeting earlier this year, the New Energy World Industry Grouping (NEW-IG) elected its new executive board. The new members, who will initially serve for two years, are Thomas Melczer and Andreas Frömmel. Melczer, Director of Business Development at Proton Motor Fuel Cell, is now responsible for the