What's also important... TICKER (week 47)

Magdeburg: H2 Mobility opens another hydrogen filling station + + + Denmark: Maersk signs methanol purchase agreement with Goldwind + + + Spain: Hydrogen through ammonia cracking at sea + + + Spain: 200 interested parties for Spanish H2 backbone + + + Norway: Hynion reactivates hydrogen filling station + + + Netherlands: Noord-Holland is Hydrogen Valley of the Year + + + Switzerland: Isolated without a hydrogen strategy + + + Taiwan: Researchers increase efficiency of H2 production from seawater + + +DISCOUNT promotion: Your ADVERTISING on the PtX portal

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

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H2 Mobility, developer and operator of hydrogen filling stations, has opened a new hydrogen truck filling station in Magdeburg together with the investor H2 Green Power & Logistics. H2 Mobility Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG is responsible for construction and operation and, according to its own information, has been driving the development of the hydrogen infrastructure in Germany since 2015. The location at the Total Energies truck stop in Magdeburg on the A2 is a “role model for logistics”. Companies such as Dachser, Norma and Samsung SDS regularly run routes from Magdeburg to Berlin, Leipzig and Hanover in practical tests with Hyundai's H2 trucks. “With our massive expansion of the 350 bar network, there are increasingly more opportunities to switch to hydrogen in heavy-duty transport - also in other regions of Germany,” explains Lorenz Jung, Managing Director and CCO H2 Mobilty Germany. H2 Mobility received funding of 400.000 euros from the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) for the construction of the hydrogen truck station. Fuel cell vehicles can currently refuel at 80 bar at more than 700 public hydrogen filling stations in Germany, including cars and smaller commercial vehicles as well as garbage collectors. Further network expansion will be demand-oriented with a focus on 350 bar technology for trucks and buses, including along the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). 15 stations in the H2 Mobility network currently offer refueling options for 350 bar vehicles. 27 additional refueling options using this technology are currently being implemented. More are being planned. Five additional 700 bar filling stations are currently being planned, built or commissioned.

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The major Danish shipping company AP Moller-Maersk and the Chinese project developer Goldwind have concluded a long-term purchase agreement for methanol. The undisclosed volumes combined a blend of green bio-methanol and e-methanol produced using wind energy at a new production facility in Hinggan League, northeast China, about 1.000 kilometers northeast of Beijing. Production is expected to begin in 2026. Under this agreement, Goldwind expects to make a final investment decision for the facility by the end of the year. The Danish logistics group has so far had 19 large methanol-powered vehicles Container ships ordered. Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) alone is building six freighters with a capacity of almost 17.000 standard containers. In addition, a number of companies around the world are already working on producing green methanol for Maersk and building the production facilities for this.

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Spanish company Hydrogen Onsite SL (H2Site) has commissioned an ammonia cracking system to produce high-purity hydrogen at sea. In conjunction with a PEM fuel cell, the energy source is used to generate electricity for the ship's consumers. The technology was installed on the supply ship “Bertha B”, which is sailing in the Bay of Biscay. It has now been tested both on board and on land and will be further expanded. According to the company, ammonia cracking is becoming “increasingly important as a potential hydrogen carrier for on-board applications.” Ammonia can be used directly in engines or split into hydrogen and used in fuel cells. Zumaia Offshore, Erhardt Offshore, Ajusa and Tecnalia as well as Enagas and ABS were involved in the development.

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The Spanish gas network operator Enagás SA has completed the first phase of a “Call For Interest” process. With the process started on September 14th, the company wants to determine the need for the first axes of the Spanish hydrogen main network. More than 200 producers, consumers and marketers took part in the expression of interest. The aim is to identify potential users of the Spanish hydrogen main network. Enagás is now starting to analyze and process all the information and data received. The results are to be presented on January 31st.

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The Norwegian company Hynion AS is reactivating a hydrogen filling station in Porsgrunn. The station was acquired in 2019 and has not been in operation since. It was built by Norsk Hydro and completed in 2007. It was inaugurated as part of the “Hydrogen Highway” in 2009, which consists of four hydrogen filling stations on the E18 from Oslo to Stavanger. The 700 bar system was designed for cars and commercial vehicles. After the reopening, this will be the fifth Hynion station. The lengthy process of reopening the station was due, among other things, to the fact that the documentation from Norsk Hydro's production was no longer available and had to be largely recreated by subcontractors. The recertification of the pressure tanks also required time-consuming pressure tests. The exact time of the reopening was not announced.

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The Hydrogen Hub Noord-Holland was voted “Hydrogen Valley of the year 2023”. “Hydrogen Valleys” are regions that are particularly committed to the development of an energy system based on sustainable hydrogen. There are 84 such regions worldwide, 60 of which are in Europe. In the province of Noord-Holland between the North Sea and Ijsselmehr, ports play an important role for the import, storage, transit and export of sustainable hydrogen, according to a statement from the Amsterdam Port Authority.

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Switzerland runs the risk of isolating itself without a national hydrogen strategy. “The country could even be excluded from the development of transporting hydrogen at the European level, as there is still no energy agreement between Switzerland and the European Union,” said “SWI Swissinfo”, the Swiss broadcasting news portal. However, the Federal Office of Energy (BFE) will present a national hydrogen strategy in the second half of 2024. “Green hydrogen is considered the Swiss army knife of decarbonization,” says Steven Schenk, an engineer and researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), according to the article. However, there are a number of Swiss companies that are active abroad, including Groupe E, the energy and electrical engineering group ABB and the railway manufacturer Stadler Rail.

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A research team led by Professor Ho-Hsiu Chou from the Department of Chemical Engineering at National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in Taiwan has made progress in producing hydrogen from seawater. The efficiency of this type of hydrogen production is affected by the accumulation of sodium salts on the surface of the photocatalyst. The scientists developed a technology to prevent salt-induced aggregation so that the electrons produced during photocatalysis can combine seamlessly with hydrogen ions. The researchers increased the production rate from 15,5 millimoles of hydrogen per gram of catalyst per hour to 39,2 millimoles, exceeding the original yield by more than 2,5 times. 97 percent of the world's water supplies consist of seawater and are therefore a "virtually unlimited resource". As this technology matures, there is the possibility of using seawater and sunlight locally to generate hydrogen in coastal areas, paving the way for zero-carbon emissions.

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Photos
iStock / © Danil Melekhin