Portugal: Consortium develops 2 MW H100 production + + + Hamburg: Hansewerk increases CHP output in H2 operation + + + India: Adding 15 percent hydrogen to natural gas + + + BaWü: Study on H2 applications in rural areas + + + Italy: Snam builds electrolyzer for Turin airport + + + Austria: Solaris delivers five H2 buses to ÖBB Postbus + + + Norway: NEL appoints new CEO + + + Events
A selection of PtX topics summarized at the end of the week
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A consortium of 13 companies and research institutions is developing a green hydrogen production plant in Portugal with an output of 100 megawatts. The EU Commission promotes the “GreenH2Atlantic“mentioned projects as part of “Horizon 2020” with 30 million euros. The electrolyzer will be built on the site of the coal-fired power plant in the port city of Sines from 2023 and is scheduled to go into operation in 2025. The 100-megawatt electrolyzer consists of modules of eight megawatts each and uses electricity from a solar and wind farm.
The international consortium includes the Portuguese Energy supplier Energias de Portugal SA (EDP), the oil company Galp Energy, the chemical company Bondalti Chemicals, the manufacturer of transformer and automation technology Efacec Power Solutions SGPS SA and the conglomerate Martifer Group. In addition, there are from France Energy multinational Engie SA, the hydrogen company Mcphy and from Denmark the wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems A/S. The project is scientifically supported by the Portuguese institutes ISQ and INESC TEC (University of Porto), from German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Swiss CEA; in addition, the public-private merger Axelera involved.
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Hamburg-based Hansewerk Natur GmbH increases CHP efficiency with hydrogen. The company now has the second Test series in Hamburg-Othmarschen together with the Innio Jenbacher GmbH & Co OG, a Tyrol-based manufacturer of gas engines and combined heat and power plants. After the district heating network operator in the first Field test In November 2020, the company was able to demonstrate the feasibility of operating with up to 100 percent hydrogen with an engine in the one-megawatt class. According to the information, the efficiency and performance of the combined heat and power plant have now been examined. Accordingly, performance increased by around ten percent when operating on hydrogen and by more than 20 percent during peak load operation. “With the series of tests, Hansewerk Natur is also preparing for the heat and electricity supply to entire districts via pure H2 networks,” says technical managing director Thomas Baade.
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India plans to add 15 percent green hydrogen to piped natural gas (PNG). This is part of the government's "National Hydrogen Energy Mission", which aims to produce hydrogen from green energy sources, said a post by "The Hindu Business Line“. At the beginning of 2021, Energy Minister RK Singh had already included green hydrogen in the list of renewable energies subject to purchase (renewable purchase obligation, RPO), according to which large buyers such as utilities must purchase a certain proportion of renewable energies in their total electricity requirements. For hydrogen, a similar mechanism is created as HPO (hydrogen purchase obligation). The HPO will cover industries such as oil refineries and fertilizer plants that currently use gray hydrogen. This is intended to create demand for green hydrogen, according to the paper. The HPO is expected to come into force from 2023.
The government considers a hydrogen admixture of 15 percent to be technically unproblematic. If there is a larger quantity, the gas pipelines would have to be modernized, otherwise the hydrogen would cause metal pipes to become brittle and thus increase the risk of leaks.
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Baden-Württemberg is funding a study on the potential of hydrogen applications in rural areas with around 127.000 euros. The funds come from the Ministry of Economy, Labor and Tourism. With the creation of the competence center for logistics and value creation LOG VALUE Heilbronn University and the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organization CODIS instructed. The total cost of the study entitled “The rural region as a driver for the implementation of hydrogen applications through innovative approaches in logistics“ amounts to around 141.000 euros. The potential, suitable approaches to hydrogen use and supply as well as possible concepts for a hydrogen economy in rural areas are being developed based on the three regions Main-Tauber-Kreis, Linzgau and Bodenseehinterland, Hohenlohe. The report should be available at the end of 2022.
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The Italian natural gas transmission system operator Snam is building a “hydrogen-compatible” combined heat and power system with an output of 1,2 megawatts at Turin Airport. The client is the airport management company SAGAT SpA. The contractor is the Snam subsidiary renovat, a joint venture with the Italian sovereign wealth fund CDP Equity. Fuel cell is made in collaboration with the American company Fuel Cell Energy designed and developed. It can be operated with variable proportions of up to 40 percent hydrogen mixed with natural gas to produce combined electricity and heat. The system will be installed at Turin Airport in the second quarter of 2023. The contract value is 14 million euros.
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The Polish vehicle manufacturer Solaris Bus & Coach sp. z oo is delivering five “Urbino 12 Hydrogen” hydrogen buses to Österreichische Postbus AG (ÖBB Postbus). The vehicles will be used in Villach, in the south of the country. Delivery will take place by the end of November 2022. According to the company, this is the first order based on a framework agreement that was concluded at the beginning of 2021 and provides for the possibility of purchasing up to 40 vehicles of this type.
The “Urbino 12 Hydrogen” models are powered by fuel cells and have a range of 350 kilometers. ÖBB Postbus is the largest bus company in Austria. The investment is part of the project “H2 Carinthia“, which aims to promote the development of hydrogen technology in the region. The largest transport companies in Austria, local authorities and energy companies are involved. It includes, among other things, the construction of the first hydrogen filling station in the state of Carinthia and the expansion of local bus fleets to include hydrogen vehicles.
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Norwegian hydrogen company Nel ASA appoints Håkon Volldal as new CEO. Volldal comes from his current position as CEO of Q-Free ASA, a provider of traffic management systems, and replaces the current CEO Jon André Løkke who has headed the company for six years. Volldal will take over the post at the end of the second quarter of 2022. Løkke is expected to be elected to the board at the annual general meeting in April 2022.
Photos
iStock / © Danil Melekhin
