Japan: Three shipping companies take stake in JSE Ocean for LH2 technology + + + Geilenkirchen: Westverkehr orders twelve hydrogen buses in Ireland + + + Norway: Everfuel and Hy24 establish joint venture + + + Netherlands: Government supports hydrogen tank infrastructure with 125 million euros + + + Lingen: RWE starts SOEC test operations + + + Lubmin: ReGas starts FEED phase for large-scale electrolysis in Lubmin + + + USA: Quantron and New Day Hydrogen plan H2 service for truck fleets + + + USA: Air Liquide and Trillium cooperate on H2 tank infrastructure + + + Events + + +DISCOUNT promotion: Your ADVERTISING on the PtX portal
A selection of PtX topics summarized at the end of the week
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Concept study of a liquid hydrogen transporter with a capacity of 160.000 cubic meters. © Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.
The three major Japanese shipping companies Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K LINE), Mitsui OSK Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) are participating in the company JSE Ocean, Ltd., a subsidiary of Japan Suiso Energy, Ltd. (JSE). JSE remains the majority shareholder with 50,2 percent, while the shipping companies each hold 16,6 percent. JSE was acquired by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. in June 2021. (66,6 percent) and the Iwatani Corporation (33,4 percent). The joint venture will develop hydrogen liquefaction and transport technology, initially supplying 30.000 tonnes of hydrogen per year, and also establish a global liquid hydrogen (LH2) supply chain, including hydrogen production, liquefaction and transport from Australia. JSE Ocean was founded in January 2023 to research the transport of LH2 by sea and to develop a suitable container ship powered by hydrogen.
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Westverkehr employees visited the manufacturer Wrightbus in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, to coordinate technical details. © Westverkehr GmbH
Westverkehr GmbH has ordered twelve hydrogen-powered vehicles from the Northern Irish bus manufacturer Wrightbus for regular public transport operations. According to the information, the transport company ordered the “Kite Hydroliner” model. Regionalverkehr Köln GmbH also ordered 60 of this type at the beginning of the year. “With this purchase, we are taking an important step towards converting the bus fleet to emission-free drives,” says Udo Winkens, Managing Director of Westverkehr. Wrightbus is the only manufacturer in Europe that also offers a hydrogen-powered double-decker bus under the name “StreetDeck Hydroliner”.
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Everfuel and the hydrogen fund Hy24 have founded their announced joint venture. © Everfuel A/S
The Norwegian company Everfuel A/S and the infrastructure fund Hy24 have completed the formation of a joint venture (JV) announced in February. The joint venture called “Everfuel Hy24 A/S2” plans to invest a total of 200 million euros in green hydrogen infrastructure in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. This makes it possible to finance, build, own and operate green hydrogen projects of up to one gigawatt. The JV's first acquisition is Everfuel's 20-megawatt electrolyzer "HySynergy Phase 1" with a total transaction amount of 26,9 million euros, which was also announced in February. Everfuel holds 51 percent of the shares in the joint venture, while the Clean Hydrogen Infrastructure Fund managed by Hy24 holds 49 percent.
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The Binnenhof, The Hague, seat of the Dutch government. © Wikipedia / Christopher A. Dominic
The Dutch government is providing 125 million euros to make it easier for transport companies to switch to hydrogen. This is intended to finance 40 new hydrogen filling stations and hydrogen-powered vehicles. According to State Secretary Heijnen, companies could apply for funding from the program from March 2024. Any application must include “a gas station and the immediate purchase of a sufficient number of trucks or buses” so that the gas station is profitable from the start. On average, 10 to 15 hydrogen trucks would be needed for this. In practice, this means that transport companies and gas station owners come together to apply for funding. Entrepreneurs can receive subsidies of 40 percent of the costs of building the station for each hydrogen filling station. Per truck or van it is 80 percent of the price difference compared to a diesel variant. The prerequisite for the filling stations is that both trucks and cars can use them and that they are publicly accessible. The funding program runs until 2028. There are currently 17 hydrogen filling stations, 600 hydrogen-powered cars and “a handful” of trucks and vans in the Netherlands.
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A Sunfire electrolyser was put into operation at RWE's power plant site in Lingen. © RWE AG
The joint project based in Lingen GET H2 TransHyDE According to its own information, it produced hydrogen for the first time on the site of the RWE Emsland gas power plant (KEM) using a high-temperature solid oxide electrolyser (SOEC) from Sunfire GmbH. The electrolyser with an output of 250 kilowatts is part of a test facility where nine project partners are testing how hydrogen can be transported and stored safely and reliably through pipelines. The electrolyser installed in an overseas container can produce around 170 kilograms of hydrogen per day at full load. As part of the research project, this is to be fed into a 130 meter long test line (loop) in order to develop technologies for the optimal use of the energy source. In the coming weeks, a piston compressor will be put into operation to compress the hydrogen to the pressure of 58 bar required for pipe transport. The first tests on the test line will begin in early 2024. The hydrogen joint project GET H2 TransHyDE involves Adlares, Evonik, Meter-Q Solutions, Nowega, OGE, Rosen and RWE as well as the DVGW research center at the Engler-Bunte Institute of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Potsdam is involved. The project is being funded by the federal government with 11,63 million euros. According to Sopna Sury, COO Hydrogen RWE Generation, RWE also wants to put the 14-megawatt electrolysis plant of a neighboring pilot project for hydrogen production on an industrial scale into operation in Lingen “in a few months”.
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In January of this year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz opened an LNG terminal in Lubmin together with Manuela Schwesig, Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The operator Deutsche ReGas GmbH is working in parallel on Rügen at the “Deutsche Ostsee” terminal, where an electrolyzer will be installed by 2026 and the infrastructure for hydrogen import is planned (from 2027/28). © Federal Government / Kugler
The Deutsche ReGas GmbH & Co. KGaA has completed the design planning for a large-scale electrolysis plant for the production of green hydrogen in Lubmin (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). According to its own information, the company is now starting the FEED phase (Front End Engineering and Design). In the first expansion stage, the plant is scheduled to go into operation from the second half of 2026 with 200 megawatts (MW). A further 300 MW will follow in the second expansion stage from 2028. In the first phase, around 30.000 tonnes of green hydrogen could be produced per year, and in the second expansion stage it would be 80.000 tonnes per year. The electricity required for production comes from the offshore wind power arriving in Lubmin and also from onshore wind turbines. The green hydrogen will be supplied by the transmission system operator Gascade Gastransport GmbH as part of the project “Flow – making hydrogen happen” planned pipeline will be fed into the future hydrogen network. The aim of the project is to convert existing natural gas pipelines to hydrogen. A 2028 kilometer long line is to be built as a north-south transport route by 1.100.
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Quantron vehicle portfolio. © Quantron AG
Quantron US, a subsidiary of Augsburg-based Quantron AG, has announced a partnership with the US company New Day Hydrogen. The companies want to further develop the refueling of fleets of heavy hydrogen vehicles. New Day Hydrogen will build electrolysers on-site at Quantron customers so that truck fleets can meet their own hydrogen needs. Quantron had already announced a collaboration with First Element Fuel in May. Quantron customers would thus have access to a network of 40 hydrogen filling stations in California. At the “Advanced Clean Transportation” trade fair in Anaheim, the company presented a new fuel cell truck (FCEV) for the US market, but did not provide any information about the start of possible series production. Quantron offers fleet owners access to all services required to convert their fleet to hydrogen via “per mile billing” as part of a service system.
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Trillium also cooperates with the US gas engine manufacturer Cummins to maintain its gas station network. © Cummins Inc.
The manufacturer of industrial gases Liquid air According to an agreement, Trillium Energy Solutions and Trillium Energy Solutions want to jointly develop the market for fueling heavy-duty vehicles with hydrogen in the USA. In addition to expanding the filling station infrastructure, this also includes hydrogen supply. The construction of a comprehensive hydrogen retail network should begin along “a strategic truck route”. Hydrogen production of 150 tons per day will be installed, which can supply more than 2.000 heavy commercial vehicles. As part of the partnership, Air Liquide will bring its expertise in technology areas such as production, liquefaction, transport and storage, and Trillium will bring its nationwide experience in infrastructure, operation and management of alternative fuel stations. Air Liquide employs more than 20.000 people in the United States. Trillium, part of the US family consortium “Love's Family of Companies” with more than 35.000 employees, operates a “Travel Stop” network with 639 locations in 42 US states with infrastructure for compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen and electric vehicles, among others . Tom Love, founder of the empire, died in March this year at the age of 85.
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Photos
iStock / © Danil Melekhin
