TICKER (week 22/23): What’s also important…

Denmark: von der Leyen becomes godmother of methanol ship + + + Japan: 100 billion euros for hydrogen + + + Cape Verde Islands: Feasibility study for H2 production + + + UAE: ADNOC plans to build a hydrogen economy + + + Germany: PV systems with 70 gigawatts of output installed + + + Denmark: 3 GW offshore wind project signed + + + France: Industry calls for further strategies for hydrogen + + + Aachen: Two new guides on fuel cell systems and components + + +DISCOUNT promotion: Your ADVERTISING on the PtX portal

A selection of PtX topics summarized at the end of the week

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Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, will Godmother for the new feeder vessel of the AP Moller-Maersk Group. According to the major Danish shipping company, it is the “world’s first container ship to run on green methanol.” The christening is scheduled for September 14th in Copenhagen, where the 172 meter long ship will arrive on its maiden voyage before heading to its regular operating route in the Baltic Sea. Maersk aims to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the company by 2040. “The European Commission and especially its President have made a significant contribution to leading the European continent into a green future,” is how the company explains its choice of godmother. “Our new ship is a concrete example of change” and embodies the Green Deal, says Vincent Clerc, Managing Director of AP Moller-Maersk. The shipping company estimates the cost of the ship at 2,1 million euros. It will provide seafarers with “real-world operational experience in handling the new engines and using green methanol as fuel.” The company wants to put more such ocean-going ships into operation from 2024. As reported, Maersk is pushing methanol propulsion for its fleet of ships worldwide and has commissioned a number of new ships and started producing methanol for a number of companies worldwide green methanel commissioned.

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In Japan, 15 trillion yen (15 billion euros) are to be invested in supplying the country with hydrogen over the next 100,5 years. The government wants to contribute six to eight trillion yen, the rest is hoped to come from the private sector. Like the news agency Reuters citing the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the country has now revised its hydrogen strategy published in 2017. The goal is to increase the hydrogen supply to twelve million tons per year by 2040. Originally there was supposed to be an increase from the current two million to three million tonnes by 2030. Japan is aiming for around 2050 million tonnes by 20. By the end of this decade, Japan wants to increase electrolyzer capacity from one gigawatt now to 15 gigawatts. However, these figures are not completely new: Industry Minister Nashimura had already announced the key data at the beginning of April. The country's supply should also be secured with plants abroad. In March, the government declared the state Green Innovation Fund invest 220 billion yen (1,52 billion euros) in the “Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain” project (HESC) in the Australian state of Victoria. The energy source produced there is shipped to Japan as liquid hydrogen.

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The Cape Verde Islands Government and the Finnish Government Flexens Oy AB want to work together to develop a feasibility study for the implementation of large-scale production of green hydrogen. This will be used as part of a Power-to-X concept to produce e-ammonia for export. The agreement was signed under the patronage of Alexandre Monteiro, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy of the island republic, and Finnish Ambassador Satu Suikkari-Kleven.

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The Arab state oil company Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) wants to build a hydrogen economy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) together with John Cockerill Hydrogen and Strata Manufacturing. The Ministry of Industry and High Technology (MoIAT) reportedly supports the companies' cooperation agreement aimed at producing electrolyzers for local use and export. ADNOC is a shareholder in the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), which has 20 gigawatts of renewable energy power plants and plans to install at least 2030 GW of renewable energy and produce up to one million tons of green hydrogen by 100.

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At the end of May, three million photovoltaic systems were in operation in Germany. In 2020 there were two million. He comes to these numbers Federal Association of Solar Industry eV (BSW) based on evaluations of the market master data register of the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA). This year alone, around 276.000 systems with an output of 3,7 gigawatts went into operation by mid-May. According to BnetzA statistics, Germany achieved a total installed capacity of 70 gigawatts in April. According to the information, a third of the photovoltaic capacity installed in Germany to date has been installed on private buildings, a third on commercial buildings and a third in ground-level solar parks. The BSW expects the four millionth solar power system to be commissioned at the beginning of 2024.

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Offshore wind turbines with an output of at least three gigawatts (GW) are to be built on the territory of the Danish Baltic Sea island of Bornholm by the early 2030s. The yield is to be transported via new grid connections to Germany (2,0 GW) and to the Danish mainland (1,2 GW). The transmission system operators 50Hertz and Energinet share the infrastructure costs of the project. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Danish Energy Minister Lars Aagaard have signed a corresponding cooperation agreement. This creates “the basis for future green electricity imports to Germany,” says Habeck. It is the first legally binding cooperation agreement in Europe on a joint offshore project under the EU Renewable Energy Directive RED, which the member states adopted in March. In the future, offshore wind farms with an output of ten gigawatts are to be connected to Germany and other countries via new power lines in another Danish energy hub in the North Sea. The government agreement is also the cornerstone for the implementation of “Bornholm Energy Island” as an “energy hub” between the two countries. (The text of the agreement is available as PDF in English)

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The Portuguese oil company Galp Energia wants to make the final investment decision for its first 100 megawatt green hydrogen plant by the end of the year. According to the news agency, “some regulatory and tax issues” still need to be clarified beforehand Reuters citing a company spokesman. The planned location is the refinery in Sines, south of Lisbon, which is currently Portugal's largest buyer of hydrogen from natural gas. According to the information, Galp now wants to gradually produce hydrogen there using renewable energies. The electrolyzer is “just the first step,” and Galp wants to build a total green hydrogen capacity of 600 to 700 megawatts.

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Numerous French energy companies are calling for “the industry to be included in the new national hydrogen strategy”. According to the advocacy group France Hydrogene its current revision “is a great opportunity to accelerate the first milestones set since the launch of the strategy in September 2020 to make France a world leader in decarbonized hydrogen.” France has many trump cards in its hand: gigafactories are being built for the most important hydrogen equipment and a network of companies is being created. The national strategy should not be limited to decarbonizing part of the 50 industrial sites with the highest emissions. In connection with the planned introduction of the various types of use and production of carbon-free hydrogen, the industry is calling on the government to start planning infrastructure projects for the transport, distribution and storage of hydrogen. According to the Reuters news agency, around 150 companies have signed the call, including the energy companies EDF and Engie as well as regional governments such as Nouvelle Aquitane and Occitane. The new national hydrogen strategy is expected to be announced around June 13th.

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Two fundamentally renewed guidelines are intended to contribute to understanding the production of fuel cell components and fuel cell systems. The guide "Production of fuel cell systems 20 pages are devoted to the production and construction of such systems as well as their application in vehicles, the scaling of their future industrial production and the underlying cost structure. The publication “Production of fuel cell components” On the other hand, almost 28 pages deal with the technology development and the functional principle of individual fuel cells as well as the production of their respective components in detail. The necessary investments for machines and systems are also quantified for all essential production processes. The documents were edited and published by the Chair of “Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components” (PEM) at RWTH Aachen University and the Association of German Mechanical and Plant Engineering (VDMA). They are available free of charge as a PDF.

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