Japan: Three shipping companies invest in JSE Ocean for LH2 technology +++ Geilenkirchen: Westverkehr orders twelve hydrogen buses in Ireland +++ Norway: Everfuel and Hy24 establish joint venture +++ Netherlands: Government funds hydrogen refueling infrastructure with 125 million euros +++ Lingen: RWE launches SOEC test operation +++ 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 refueling infrastructure +++ Events +++ DISCOUNT promotion: Your advertisement 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) have acquired stakes in 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 founded in June 2021 by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (66,6 percent) and Iwatani Corporation (33,4 percent). The joint venture aims to develop hydrogen liquefaction and transportation technology, initially delivering 30.000 tons of hydrogen per year, and to establish a global liquid hydrogen (LH2) supply chain that also includes hydrogen production, liquefaction, and transportation 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 its public transport operations. According to the company, the transport operator ordered the "Kite Hydroliner" model. Regionalverkehr Köln GmbH also ordered 60 of this type at the beginning of the year. "This purchase represents an important step towards converting our bus fleet to emission-free propulsion," says Udo Winkens, Managing Director of Westverkehr. Wrightbus is the only manufacturer in Europe to offer a hydrogen-powered double-decker bus, which it calls the "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 finalized the formation of a joint venture (JV) announced in February. The joint venture, named "Everfuel Hy24 A/S2," plans to invest a total of €200 million in green hydrogen infrastructure in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. This will enable the financing, construction, ownership, and operation of green hydrogen projects up to one gigawatt. The JV's first acquisition is Everfuel's 20-megawatt electrolyzer, "HySynergy Phase 1," for a total transaction value of €26,9 million, 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 to facilitate the switch to hydrogen for transport companies. This funding will finance 40 new hydrogen refueling stations and hydrogen-powered vehicles. According to State Secretary Heijnen, companies can apply for funding from the program starting in March 2024. Each application must include "a refueling station and the immediate purchase of a sufficient number of trucks or buses" to ensure the station's profitability from the outset. On average, 10 to 15 hydrogen trucks will be needed. In practice, this means that transport companies and refueling station owners will join forces to submit a funding application. Companies can receive a subsidy of 40 percent of the construction costs for each hydrogen refueling station. For each truck or van, the subsidy covers 80 percent of the price difference compared to a diesel alternative. The refueling stations must be accessible to both trucks and cars and be publicly accessible. The funding program runs until 2028. Currently, there are 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 GET H2 TransHyDE collaborative project, based in Lingen , has announced that it has produced hydrogen for the first time at the RWE Emsland gas-fired power plant (KEM) using a high-temperature solid oxide electrolyzer (SOEC) from Sunfire GmbH. The 250-kilowatt electrolyzer is part of a test facility where nine project partners are investigating how hydrogen can be transported and stored safely and reliably via pipelines. The electrolyzer, housed in a shipping container, can produce approximately 170 kilograms of hydrogen per day at full capacity. As part of the research project, this hydrogen will be fed into a 130-meter-long test pipeline (loop) to develop technologies for the optimal handling of this energy carrier. In the coming weeks, a piston compressor will also be commissioned to compress the hydrogen to the 58 bar pressure required for pipeline transport. Initial trials on the test line will begin in early 2024. The GET H2 TransHyDE hydrogen joint project 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. The project is being funded by the German federal government with €11,63 million. According to Sopna Sury, COO Hydrogen RWE Generation, RWE also plans to commission the 14-megawatt electrolysis plant of a neighboring pilot project for industrial-scale hydrogen production in Lingen "within 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
Deutsche ReGas GmbH & Co. KGaA has completed the preliminary design for a large-scale electrolysis plant for the production of green hydrogen in Lubmin (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). According to the company, it is now entering the FEED (Front End Engineering and Design) phase. The plant is scheduled to begin operation in its first phase in the second half of 2026 with a capacity of 200 megawatts (MW). An additional 300 MW will follow in the second phase starting in 2028. The first phase could produce approximately 30.000 tons of green hydrogen per year, increasing to 80.000 tons per year in the second phase. The electricity required for production will come from offshore wind power arriving in Lubmin, as well as from onshore wind farms. The green hydrogen will be fed into the future hydrogen network via the pipeline planned by the transmission system operator Gascade Gastransport GmbH as part of the "Flow – making hydrogen happen" project . The project aims to convert existing natural gas pipelines to hydrogen. An initial 1.100-kilometer pipeline is to be built as a north-south transport route by 2028.
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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 aim to further develop the refueling of fleets of heavy-duty hydrogen vehicles. New Day Hydrogen will build electrolyzers on-site at Quantron customers' facilities, enabling truck fleets to meet their own hydrogen needs. In May, Quantron had already announced a collaboration with First Element Fuel. This gives Quantron customers access to an existing network of 40 hydrogen refueling stations in California. At the Advanced Clean Transportation trade show in Anaheim, the company unveiled a new fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) for the US market but did not provide any information regarding the start of potential series production. Quantron offers fleet owners access to all the services required to convert their fleets to hydrogen via a "billed-per-mile" service system.
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Trillium also cooperates with the US gas engine manufacturer Cummins to maintain its gas station network. © Cummins Inc.
Industrial gas manufacturer Air Liquide and Trillium Energy Solutions have agreed to jointly develop the market for hydrogen refueling of heavy-duty vehicles in the US. This includes expanding the refueling infrastructure as well as ensuring hydrogen supply. The development of a comprehensive hydrogen retail network will begin along a strategic truck route. A hydrogen production capacity of 150 tons per day will be installed, enough to supply more than 2.000 heavy-duty vehicles. As part of the partnership, Air Liquide will contribute its expertise in technologies such as production, liquefaction, transportation, and storage, while Trillium will contribute its nationwide experience with the infrastructure, operation, and management of alternative fuel refueling stations. Air Liquide employs more than 20.000 people in the US. Trillium, part of the US family-owned "Love's Family of Companies" conglomerate with more than 35.000 employees, operates a "Travel Stop" network with 639 locations in 42 US states, offering infrastructure for compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen, and electric vehicles, among other things. Tom Love, founder of the empire, died in March of this year at the age of 85.
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Photos
iStock / © Danil Melekhin
