Halle: 50 Hertz and municipal utilities are planning a power-to-heat system with wind power + + + Wesseling: City relies entirely on hydrogen buses + + + Schwerin: Feasibility studies commissioned for two Power-to-X projects in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania + + + Finland: P2X Solutions lays the foundation stone for a plant for the production of green hydrogen + + + Congo: HDF plans hydrogen power plant + + + USA: Biagi Brothers order 15 fuel cell trucks from Nikola + + +DISCOUNT promotion: Your ADVERTISING on the PtX portal
A selection of PtX topics summarized at the end of the week
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Wind farm on the overhead line between Röhrsdorf (Saxony) and Remptendorf (Thuringia). © 50Hertz / Jan Pauls
The Berlin transmission system operator 50Hertz Transmission GmbH and EVH GmbH, Saxony-Anhalt, which belongs to Stadtwerke Halle, are planning a power-to-heat system (PtH). According to the information, this has an output of 40 megawatts (MW) and is scheduled to go into operation at the end of the year. 15Hertz will cover the investment costs of up to 50 million euros. The aim is to use the yield from the wind farms in northeast Germany even if it cannot be completely consumed locally or transported further due to strong winds. In such cases, wind turbines are curtailed to protect the grids from being overloaded. The operators of the wind turbines receive compensation in compensation. In the future, part of this electricity will be used to supply heat to the city of Halle (Saale). According to the information, Halle is 50Hertz's seventh PtH project to date, and the total output of all contracted systems in Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and now Saxony-Anhalt is over 180 megawatts.
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Gunnar Ohrndorf (Managing Director of Stadtwerke Wesseling GmbH), Martina Engels-Bremer (Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board), Mayor Ralph Manzke and Marcel Frank (Managing Director of Regionalverkehr Köln GmbH) are looking forward to the new hydrogen buses. © RVK
The North Rhine-Westphalian city of Wesseling wants to completely replace its diesel-powered city buses with hydrogen-powered fuel cell buses. In the future, this would save 295 tons of carbon dioxide and 0,36 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) per year in city traffic compared to the use of EURO VI buses. The twelve-meter-long vehicles from the Polish manufacturer Solaris Bus & Coach SA, newly integrated into the fleet, have a range of over 350 kilometers. They can be refueled just as quickly as diesel buses and therefore do not require any adjustments to operational processes. Refueling takes place at a Shell station in Wesseling, which is now being converted and expanded for hydrogen buses. The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport has the Regional Transport Cologne GmbH (RVK) “comprehensive funding commitments” were given. The RVK, with its administrative headquarters in Cologne, provides its services in the areas surrounding Cologne and Bonn. Stadtwerke Wesseling GmbH is a shareholder in RVK. According to Marcel Frank, managing director of RVK, the fleet has been “consistently converting to hydrogen” since 2014. RVK had last year Solaris 20 buses ordered with the option for a further 20. The Northern Irish manufacturer Wrightbus also received a contract for 20 vehicles with the option to increase the order by a further 40 buses.
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The Future Green Gases GmbH & Co. KG has commissioned the Society for Regional Participation and Climate Protection mbH (GTK) to carry out feasibility studies for two Power-to-X projects in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In Karlsburg (Vorpommern-Greifswald district) and Leizen (Mecklenburg Lake District) “large amounts of green electricity will be available in the future through the construction of wind and solar parks in the region,” explained the company. Its transformation and storage should enable greater regional use. It is being investigated how locally generated green electricity can be stored by converting it into green gases or made available for various applications. The aim is to develop a concept for the construction and economic operation of an “energy conversion plant”. GTK primarily considers the production and use of green hydrogen. Although this is more complex to store, distribute and use than hydrogen derivatives such as LNG, methanol or ammonia, the efficiencies are higher due to the smaller conversion chains. “We assume that the use of hydrogen as an energy source will become established in areas that cannot be converted to electricity-based processes,” says Bernd Jeske, Managing Director of Zukunft Grüne Gase. Results are expected in the spring.
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Esa Härmälä, Chairman of the Board of Directors of P2X Solutions (center), Herkko Plit, CEO of P2X Solutions (left) and Mika Lintilä, Minister of Economic Affairs (right). © P2X Solutions Oy
P2X Solutions Ltd. has laid the foundation stone for a plant for the production of green hydrogen and synthetic methane in Harjavalta in the Satakunta region of western Finland. According to the company, this is “Finland’s first large-scale green hydrogen production facility, which is currently in the construction phase.” A few weeks ago, the company signed a contract with Ruoppaus P. Suominen Oy from Nakkila to install the 20 megawatt system. Preparations on the site in the Harjavalta Industrial Park have been underway since summer 2022. Completion is scheduled for 2024. In 2021, P2X Solutions received a grant of around 26 million euros from the Ministry of Labor and Economic Affairs for the facility. In addition, the project was financed by the climate fund. In August 2022, the company also announced plans for a plant to produce green hydrogen and e-fuel with a capacity of 30 to 50 megawatts. Joensuu in eastern Finland is mentioned as a possible location, and the energy company Savon Voima has been brought into play as a cooperation partner. In September 2022, the European Commission added P70X Solutions' 2-megawatt green hydrogen and synthetic methane production plant project to the list of Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI). P2X Solutions was founded in 2020 and aims to achieve one gigawatt of electrolysis capacity by 2031.
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Hydrogène de France (HDF Energy) presumably wants to build a green hydrogen power plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in partnership with the province of Kinshasa. According to the portal “Africa21“ The company based in Bordeaux (France) is examining the possibility of building this power plant in the south of the country. The production of green electricity for hydrogen production should be secured by photovoltaics to ensure constant, uninterrupted power generation, according to the article. Like other cities, Kinshasa is also affected by power outages; only 44 percent have access to electricity.
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Nikola sells 15 fuel cell trucks to Biagi Brothers. © Nikola Corporation
The US logistics company Biagi Bros. Inc. has signed with the US vehicle manufacturer Nicholas Corporation 15 “Nikola Tre” trucks ordered. The fuel cell vehicles (FCEV) are scheduled to be handed over in Ontario, California, in the fourth quarter of 2023. According to Nikola, the FCEV trucks will operate around the clock and are expected to travel more than 100.000 miles (161.000 kilometers) per year. “These first 15 Nikola Tre FCEVs are part of Biagi Bros.’s commitment to transitioning its fleet to zero emissions,” said Michael Lohscheller, President and CEO of Nikola. Refueling takes place on site at the previously announced hydrogen filling station in Ontario and takes less than 20 minutes; the range on one tank of fuel is 500 miles (800 kilometers).
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Photos
iStock / © Danil Melekhin
