USA: Nikola and First Element Fuel cooperate +++ UK: Electricity from Hinkley Point C costs over 15 cents per kWh +++ Italy: Modena Hydrogen Valley on its way +++ Berlin: EU approves 2,6 million euros for steelworks in Saarland +++ Salzgitter: Steel group receives new SOEC electrolyzers +++ Netherlands: Barge travels 200 kilometers on hydrogen +++ DISCOUNT offer: Your advertisement on the PtX portal
A selection of PtX topics summarized at the end of the week
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Nikola wants to build a 60-station network of hydrogen filling stations for heavy trucks. Pictured: the model Nikola Tre. © Nikola Corp.
US company Nikola Corporation and hydrogen refueling provider First Element Fuel (FEF) have signed a ten-year agreement for refueling fuel cell trucks. This collaboration will give Nikola customers access to refueling services at FEF's new multi-purpose heavy-duty truck refueling station near the Port of Oakland, California. The station has a capacity of approximately 200 trucks per day and features a rapid refueling lane for heavy-duty vehicles. The station received funding from the California Energy Commission through the NorCal Zero Project. Nikola plans to build a network of up to 60 refueling stations "in the coming years," including mobile and permanent Hyla-branded stations, customer-owned stations, and new public truck stops. In addition to the California location, a Hyla station is planned to open at FEF's Oakland site by the end of 2023.
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Electricity from the new British nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C costs over 15 cents per kilowatt hour and is therefore above the market price. © EDF
Construction of the British nuclear power plant "Hinkley Point C" (two units, cumulative capacity 3.280 MW) is delayed and will be significantly more expensive for the French nuclear energy company EDF than planned. In addition, there will be "considerable cost increases for the generated nuclear power," the International Economic Forum for Renewable Energies (IWR) in Münster announced. According to the IWR, the price at the planned start-up will be "significantly above 15 cents per kilowatt-hour" and thus "well above the market price," said IWR head Norbert Allnoch. This assessment is based on data from the British CfD register. The British government has guaranteed EDF a minimum payment of £89,50 per megawatt-hour (10,3 cents per kilowatt-hour) under the "Contract for Difference" (CfD) model. If the current market electricity price on the exchange is below the dynamically increasing minimum payment for nuclear power, then electricity customers have to bear the difference. The current minimum feed-in tariff is already £128,09 (14,8 cents per kilowatt-hour) – a cost increase of over 43 percent. "Assuming only a UK annual inflation rate of three percent and without further construction delays, the price for nuclear power generated at Hinkley Point C would rise to 16,7 cents per kilowatt-hour by the start date in 2027," according to the IWR.
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Facilities of the transmission system operator for natural gas, Snam. © Snam SpA
In Italy, one of the first projects for the production of green hydrogen to support the energy transition, the "Modena Hydrogen Valley," has been officially launched. The Hera Group and the Italian transmission system operator Snam SpA, together with a consortium, have signed a letter of intent for the establishment of a hydrogen production center. The facility is currently in the final planning stages, and construction is expected to begin in 2024. A photovoltaic plant for generating green electricity will be completed by 2025, and the hydrogen center will become operational in 2026. The hydrogen produced at the Modena plant will be used by the local public transport company Seta, which has initiated the purchase of twelve buses. The consortium includes Hera, Snam, the City of Modena, Seta, Unimore, the Agency for Energy and Sustainable Development (AESS), the Consortium of Production Areas (CAP), the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), the Democenter Sipe Foundation, and the Modena Chamber of Commerce.
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The European Commission has approved the billions in state aid for the Saarland steel industry, as announced by the German government. The aim is to decarbonize steel production. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) has thus received the green light from Brussels to provide Dillinger Hüttenwerke AG, Saarstahl AG, and ROGESA mbh, together with the state of Saarland, with a total of approximately €2,6 billion by 2027 for the climate-neutral transformation of steel production. The federal government will contribute 70 percent, and Saarland 30 percent. The companies aim to save around four million tons of CO2 emissions per year in the medium term. By constructing a direct reduction plant and electric arc furnaces at the steelworks in Dillingen/Saar and Völklingen, the participating companies will convert approximately two-thirds of their production from coal-based blast furnace production to hydrogen-based steelmaking. At a later date, the companies also plan to convert the remaining portion of production to the low-CO2 route using electric arc furnaces. The new plants are scheduled to go into operation in 2027. Hydrogen use will then increase steadily, eventually reaching 120.000 tons per year. This will enable the production of more than three million tons of green steel. Salzgitter AG and Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe have already received funding under the IPCEI Hydrogen program. Another project by ArcelorMittal at its Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt sites is currently undergoing the state aid approval process.
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The GrInHy system in the Salzgitter steelworks. © Salzgitter AG
Sunfire, the manufacturer of SOEC electrolyzers, the steel company Salzgitter AG, and the TU Bergakademie Freiberg are integrating Sunfire's latest SOEC stack technology into the hydrogen network of the Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH steel plant. The system will produce 16,5 kilograms of hydrogen per hour, which will be used, among other things, for the direct reduction of iron ore. In the previous project, Sunfire's SOEC electrolyzer achieved an efficiency of 84 percent. After more than 19.000 operating hours and 190 tons of hydrogen produced, the existing eight modules are now being replaced. Two new test modules with an electrolysis capacity of 540 kilowatts will be integrated into the existing infrastructure. Commissioning is planned for 2024. SOEC electrolyzers split water vapor into oxygen and hydrogen at a temperature of 850 degrees Celsius. Because the material is subjected to high stress during this process, Sunfire has further developed its stacks, particularly with regard to their robustness. The research project GrInHy3.0 has a duration until 2027 and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
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The hydrogen-powered barge “H2 Barge 1” completed a 200-kilometer non-stop journey to Rotterdam. © Port of Rotterdam
In the Netherlands, the barge "H2 Barge 1" completed a voyage between the Port of Rotterdam and the logistics center of sportswear manufacturer Nike east of Antwerp. The vessel covered the 200 kilometers using renewable hydrogen. The 110-meter-long container ship is equipped with a fuel cell system. The hydrogen is stored in exchangeable tanks developed by Air Liquide. One tank allows the ship to operate for a day. When a tank is empty, it is removed and refueled. The "H2 Barge 1" was launched in May 2023. The zero-emission vessel, operated by Future Proof Shipping (FPS), will shuttle between the Port of Rotterdam and BCTN's inland terminal in Meerhout, Belgium, several times a week for Nike. FPS plans to build and operate a fleet of more than ten zero-emission inland and short-sea vessels within the next five years.
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Photos
iStock / © Danil Melekhin
