Emden: Lower Saxony is funding the construction of H2NORD hydrogen filling stations with eight million euros + + + USA: Linde expands hydrogen production in the USA + + + USA: Plug Power and JM cooperate + + + Portugal: Gas supplier Dourogás purchases green hydrogen from Fusion Fuel + + + Namibia: FFI and Enersense Energy work together on the “Green Hydrogen Village” + + + DISCOUNT promotion: Your ADVERTISING on the PtX portal
A selection of PtX topics summarized at the end of the week
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Handover of the grant notice (from left to right): Eugen Firus, sales manager of H2NORD, Lower Saxony's Environment Minister Christian Meyer and H2NORD managing director Claas Mauritz Brons. © Lower Saxony Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Climate Protection
The H2NORD GmbH & Co. KG group of companies wants to build several filling stations for green hydrogen in Emden, Lower Saxony, and the surrounding area. Only green electricity from the region should be used for electrolysis. A large part of this will be produced using photovoltaics in the planned 94 megawatt Emden energy park. The state of Lower Saxony is funding the first ten megawatts of electrolysis capacity with eight million euros. The company explained that this sum is the maximum possible subsidy provided for per project in the Hydrogen Directive. It corresponds to a funding rate of 40 percent with an investment volume of around 20 million euros. A total electrolysis capacity of 50 megawatts is planned. Also included in the funding volume is the filling system for the mobile hydrogen storage. According to the information, the green hydrogen is not only stored, but also transported to the filling stations. H2NORD was founded in April 2021. In addition to the founding company Energiepark Emden, consisting of Terravent, GP Joule and the Brons Group, Score Benzinken GmbH, Spedition Weets, Hinrich Folkerts Landhandel, Reederei AG EMS, Team Telematik Zentrum Norden and Stadtwerke Norden are also involved.
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Guest trailer from Linde in California © Linde plc
The manufacturer of industrial gases Linde plc wants to increase green hydrogen production capacity at its plant in Ontario, California. To meet growing demand, the first of several planned five-megawatt PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) electrolyzers is to be built. The new electrolyser, together with the system that has been in existence since 2020, will produce enough green hydrogen to avoid up to 75.000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year. The plant is expected to go into operation in the second half of 2024, said the largest US producer of liquid hydrogen. Demand will probably also be driven up by Biagi Bros. Inc. in the future. As reported, the logistics company recently ordered 15 “Nikola Tre” trucks from the US vehicle manufacturer Nikola Corporation. 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. Refueling will take place on site at a previously announced hydrogen filling station in Ontario.
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Plug Power and JM want to build a hydrogen factory in the USA. © Plug Power Inc.
The US manufacturer of fuel cells Plug Power Inc. and British technology company Johnson Matthey plc (JM) have announced a long-term strategic partnership to accelerate the green hydrogen economy. According to the information, JM will supply the Americans with membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) as well as catalyst-coated membranes (CCM) for the production of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEM). In addition, JM offers a secure supply of precious metals. Plug and JM want to invest together in what is expected to be the largest CCM production facility in the world. This will initially have a capacity of five gigawatts and will be scaled up to ten gigawatts “over time”. The factory will be built in the United States and is expected to begin production in 2025.
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Galp Gás Natural Distribuição (GGND) of Galp Energía SA (Galp) has a gas distribution network of over 13.000 kilometers, serving approximately 1,1 million households, including Portugal's capital Lisbon. In 2020, Allianz Capital Partners acquired a 75 percent stake in the company. According to Allianz, almost 95 percent of GGND's network consists of low-pressure polyethylene lines, which can also be used to transport hydrogen, synthetic natural gas or biomethane. © Galp
The Irish-based technology company Fusion Fuel Green plc has signed an offtake agreement with the Portuguese gas supplier Dourogás for green hydrogen from its projects in Portugal. This is Fusion Fuel's first offtake agreement aimed at blending green hydrogen into the Portuguese natural gas network, the company said. Portugal's 2020 national hydrogen strategy calls for, among other things, a 15 percent blend of hydrogen in the natural gas distribution network and an electrolyzer capacity of two gigawatts by 2030. The first hydrogen to be blended will be produced at Fusion Fuel's green gas project in the city of Evora, about an hour and a half drive east of Lisbon. The plant is expected to be operational in 2023 and is expected to produce around 40 tonnes annually. Portugal's largest gas distribution network operator, Galp Gás Natural Distribuição, is expected to build the infrastructure to enable blending into the network. Back in November, Fusion Fuel had a deal with the Canadian Ballard Power Systems Inc. A small, grid-independent hydrogen plant was put into operation in Evora, which Fusion Fuel itself described as a “test field” because it has since been overtaken by the company’s other projects.
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Daures (marked in green) is located in the Namibian coastal region of Erongo. A whole series of hydrogen projects are already being planned in the regional capital Swakopmund and in the port city of Walvis Bay, including several with the support of the German federal government. © Enersense
The Australian one Fortescue Future Industries Pty Ltd (FFI) and Enersense Energy Namibia (EEN), a subsidiary of the Finnish Enersense International Oyj, want to jointly develop green hydrogen projects as part of the “Green Hydrogen Village” project in Daures, Namibia. In a declaration of intent, FFI is granted the exclusive right to carry out a feasibility test (due diligence). According to the information, the aim of the project is not only to potentially produce fertilizers from green ammonia for agriculture in Africa, but also to supply green hydrogen and green ammonia to regional and international markets. According to Jerome Namaseb, CEO of Daures Green Hydrogen Village, more than 50 permanent and 100 temporary jobs could be created in the first phase to enable the production of Namibia's first green hydrogen, green ammonia and carbon-free agriculture. The community has the potential to install renewable energy power plants with an output of more than one gigawatt and produce more than 350.000 tons of ammonia per year. The first phase of the “Green Hydrogen Village” was financed by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) in collaboration with the Namibian government. It currently has an installed capacity of one megawatt and an electrolyser with a capacity of 500 kilowatts. It is intended to supply a vegetable greenhouse and various agricultural research projects in collaboration between the universities of Namibia and Stuttgart. In August 2021 that had BMBF A hydrogen partnership was concluded between Germany and Namibia and funding totaling 40 million euros was pledged.
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Photos
iStock / © Danil Melekhin
