Japan: Honda and Isuzu cooperate on fuel cell trucks + + + Australia: Energys presents H2 generator + + + Hamburg: Supplying tugboats with hydrogen + + + Düsseldorf: Rheinbahn AG orders ten hydrogen buses + + + Berlin: Consortium wants to research power-to-liquid aviation fuels + + + Algeria: Plans for hydrogen supply to Europe + + + Research: Energy storage combination with battery and electrolyzer + + + Australia: Fortescue closes PPA for Gibson Island project + + + Berlin: European TSOs work together on H2 corridor + + + Research: Storing electricity using methanol + + + DISCOUNT promotion: Your ADVERTISING on the PtX portal
A selection of PtX topics summarized at the end of the week
+ + + + +
Joint development between Honda and Isuzu: The fuel cell truck “Giga Fuel Cell” is scheduled to come onto the market ready for series production in 2027. © Honda Motor Co.
The Japanese car manufacturer Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. are presenting a heavy truck with fuel cell drive at the “Japan Mobility Show 2023” currently taking place in Tokyo. The vehicle, called “Giga Fuel Cell,” was developed jointly by the companies. A prototype is scheduled to be tested on public roads before the end of the first quarter of 2024. The series model is planned to be brought onto the market in 2027. According to the information, the 25-ton model on display with an output of 320 kilowatts is an 8×4 truck configured for long-distance routes. The range is more than 56 kilometers with one tank full (800 kilograms). In addition, the vehicle is equipped with an external power supply function so that it can also serve as a “mobile power plant” if necessary – for example in the event of a disaster.
+ + + + +
Energys has introduced a 10 kW fuel cell generator suitable for large-scale production. © Energys
Energys Australia has unveiled a fuel cell generator designed to replace traditional diesel generators. As part of a pilot project jointly financed with the government of the Australian state of Victoria, the mobile phone provider Telstra will install the green hydrogen-powered generators at locations where there have been repeated storm-related power outages in the past in order to provide a needs-based, emission-free emergency power supply. The generator delivers an alternating current output of ten kilowatts. Telstra will initially purchase five units. The generator is the result of seven years of research and development. The special thing about this third generation is that it was developed specifically for large-scale production. The state of Victoria has funded the project with more than 1,1 million Australian dollars (0,7 million euros).
+ + + + +
Mabanaft is expanding its offering to include hydrogen. © Mabanaft Group
The Mabanaft Group will supply hydrogen to a new tug from the Fairplay Towage Group in the port of Hamburg. According to the port authority, a hydrogen and bunker infrastructure still needs to be installed. Mabanaft, a provider of marine fuels, plans to expand its portfolio to include hydrogen and use its tank farms in Hamburg for this purpose. Mabanaft had already announced in November that the company wanted to build a terminal for green ammonia in Hamburg together with Air Products.
+ + + + +
Rheinbahn AG buys ten hydrogen buses from Solaris. © Solaris
Rheinbahn AG orders ten hydrogen buses from the Polish manufacturer Solaris. The supervisory board of the Düsseldorf local transport company approved the purchase after a Europe-wide tender process. Delivery of the first vehicles is scheduled for October 2024. “With the purchase, we are increasing the number of hydrogen buses at Rheinbahn to a total of 20,” says board member Michael Richarz. “In conjunction with the existing and ordered battery buses, we are testing the two drive forms in order to make a system decision for our future bus fleet based on the operational, technological and business management findings.” The low-floor buses ordered have three doors, a length of twelve meters and offer 32 seats and 33 standing places. According to the manufacturer, the minimum range is over 300 kilometers and the investment volume is around 8,5 million euros. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia will cover around 3,5 million euros via the Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association (VRR).
+ + + + +
From left: Nicole Dreyer-Langlet, Managing Director of Airbus Deutschland, Jens Ritter, CEO Lufthansa Airlines, Meike Jipp, DLR Head of Energy and Transport, Jost Lammers, CEO of Flughafen München GmbH, Lars Wagner, CEO of MTU Aero Engines AG . © Lufthansa
Representatives from Lufthansa Airlines, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Airbus, Flughafen München GmbH and MTU Aero Engines have signed a declaration of intent in Berlin for a broad research cooperation on power-to-liquid aviation fuels (PtL). . PtL is considered the next generation of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). These are a crucial technological key and essential for the energy transition in aviation. The planned cooperation is intended to combine the forces of leading aviation companies and science to accelerate the technology selection, market launch and industrial scaling of PtL aviation fuels in Germany. In addition, the use of pure PtL, i.e. without the addition of fossil kerosene, can be examined in order to gain insights for the approval process. The DLR recently had as part of the project “KuuL” (Climate-friendly ultra-efficient long-haul flight) compared kerosene, SAF and liquid hydrogen and came to the conclusion, among other things, that hydrogen and SAF could reduce CO2 emissions from aviation.
+ + + + +
This year, the fifth German-Algerian Energy Day in October in Algiers, Algeria, which has been held regularly since 2018 as part of the German-Algerian Energy Partnership, focused on the planned conversion and expansion of the gas pipeline corridor for hydrogen from Algeria via Tunisia, Italy and Austria the focus is on southern Germany. Algeria aims to become a major producer of green hydrogen. The aim is to cover up to ten percent of European needs. Around 300 representatives from politics, business and research from both countries, as well as other partners, in particular Austria, Italy and the European Commission, took part in the congress. The bilateral energy partnership is a central platform for dialogue between Germany and Algeria to exchange views on current energy policy developments and to advance joint projects, particularly in the areas of renewable energies, energy efficiency and hydrogen.
+ + + + +
A research consortium involving the TU Berlin is working on a novel zinc-hydrogen battery that can store electricity with high efficiency and releases not only electrical energy but also hydrogen when discharging. This is achieved by combining the negative zinc electrode of the battery with the principle of alkaline electrolysis, according to the researchers. A special hydrogen/oxygen gas electrode is used as the positive counter electrode, which serves as an electrocatalyst. Initial tests of the new energy storage device showed an efficiency of 50 percent when storing electricity and 80 percent when generating hydrogen, with a predicted service life of ten years. “The special thing about this Zn-H2 battery is that when it is discharged, the energy is provided in the form of both electricity and hydrogen gas,” says Peter Strasser, head of the “Electrochemical Catalysis, Energy and Materials Sciences” department at the TU Berlin. “The hydrogen can then either be used directly as a raw material in processes in the chemical industry, converted into electricity in conventional fuel cells or turbines, or used as fuel for heat in gas power plants or district heating networks.” Compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries, the new one is used Battery only uses much cheaper raw materials (steel, zinc, potassium hydroxide, water), which are only about a tenth as expensive. They also made the battery easy to recycle. The project runs until September 2025.
+ + + + +
Fortescue wants to produce hydrogen and ammonia on Gibson Island, Brisbane, Australia. © Fortescue
The Australian Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. has a subsidiary with a subsidiary of Genex Power Ltd. concluded a 25-year contract for the purchase of electricity (PPA) from PV systems with an installed capacity of 337,5 megawatts (MW). This is intended to cover part of the renewable energy needs for the planned “Gibson Island” project in Brisbane. In a second construction phase, Genex's “Bulli Creek” solar project in Queensland will be expanded to 450 megawatts. The agreement is conditional on Genex reaching financial close on the first phase of the project by the end of 2024 and Fortescue making a final investment decision on the Gibson Island project by the end of 2023. The aim is to produce 385.000 tonnes of green ammonia per year from green hydrogen, which is produced on site using a 550 MW electrolysis facility. According to its own information, the US company Plug Power will supply the electrolyzers with PEM technology. Last October, as reported, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) had completed a FEED (Front-End Engineering and Design) study on Gibson Island in Brisbane at a cost of 13,7 million Australian dollars (8,9 million euros). promoted. Investment for the entire project was forecast at the time to be $38 million.
+ + + + +
European transmission system operators want to build the “H2 Med” hydrogen network. © Enagas
The German transmission system operator Open Grid Europe (OGE) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the transmission system operators of Spain (Enagás), France (GRTgaz and Teréga) and Portugal (REN) to promote the European “H2Med” green hydrogen project. The project includes a connection between Celorico da Beira in Portugal and Zamora in Spain (“CelZa”) and a sea connection between Barcelona and Marseille (“BarMar”). “H2Med” will transport green hydrogen produced in Spain and Portugal and supply northwest European countries, primarily Germany, with up to two million tons, equivalent to ten percent of the total consumption target for Europe set by REPowerEU. The aim is to connect the Iberian Peninsula with northwestern Europe and to enable the transport of renewable hydrogen from production areas to high consumption areas, also via the corresponding national hydrogen backbones.
+ + + + +
Concept of electricity storage using methanol: Electricity from renewable energies is used to separate oxygen from the air, to electrolyze water and to separate CO2 from the air or from biogenic sources, such as the fermentation of biomass, according to the researchers from TU and PIK . Methanol is produced from CO2 and hydrogen, which stores the previously used electricity. If it is later burned in an Allam turbine with the addition of oxygen, electricity is generated again and the resulting CO2 can be completely captured and reused. A CO2-neutral closed circuit is created to store green electricity. © T.Brown / J. Hamp
Electricity from renewable energies can be stored in batteries or in the form of molecules, such as hydrogen. If hydrogen cannot be stored in salt caverns but requires - technologically complex - pressure tanks made of steel, electricity with methanol as a storage medium would be 29 to 43 percent cheaper. If there are salt caverns near where hydrogen is produced, hydrogen has the edge and electricity with methanol as a storage medium is 16 to 20 percent more expensive. This is the conclusion reached by the TU Berlin and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The core of the considerations is a new type of turbine for electricity production. The “Allam” turbine is already being used in a power plant in Texas. Combustion takes place here with pure oxygen, so that the exhaust gases consist only of water and CO2. This can easily be separated and stored in order to produce methanol again using electricity from renewable energies and hydrogen. The contribution “Ultra-long-duration energy storage anywhere: Methanol with carbon cycling” is in the journal “Joules” .
+ + + + +
DISCOUNT promotion: Your ADVERTISING on the PtX portal
Photos
iStock / © Danil Melekhin
