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German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association

Hydrogen Mirror 6/2019

Table of Contentsi

General Jubilee in Racing to the f‐cell Linde invests in ITM Mobile Applications Nexo: Much more Demand than Offer BMW shows Fuel Cell Prototype East Hessen wants 1.000 Fuel Cell Vehicles More Push for Hydrogen Ships Infrastructure New Refilling Stations in New Station in California: Oakland uses Liquid Storage Stationary Applications Lighthouse in the Fuel Cell Heating for Pure Hydrogen Research News Hot Electrolysis Energy And Climate A new Supporting Leg for Northern Friesland Business will go on with Hydrogen Politics Does Germany need a Hydrogen Strategy? What Thuringia is Planning China Eliminates Subsidies People

German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association

Hydrogen Mirror 6/2019

GENERAL JUBILEE IN HAMBURG What is today the „Hamburg Hydrogen Society“ was founded on 14. September 1989 in Hamburg. On occasion of the 30th anniversary Michael Eggenschwiler, head of and also since 2013 chairman of the hydrogen society, demonstrated an innovative baggage tug running on hydrogen on the apron of the airport. In case of success all other 60 vehicles of this kind will be switched to hydrogen as well. Along with the tugs the airport gets a refilling station, initially a mobile one. (Press release of the Hamburg Hydrogen Society of 18. September 2019)

RACING TO THE F‐CELL On 10. and 11. September the f‐cell was again held in in the „House of Commerce“. During the two days more than 500 international representatives of the hydrogen and fuel cell field from research, politics and industry from 21 countries exchanged information and opinions about the options for the climate friendly technology. 40 exhibitors took part in the fair. Already on the 9. September four teams with fuel cell vehicles started from Stuttgart to a one‐day Rallye. The team of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Initiative Hessen (short H2BZ Initiative Hessen) got most point in the „creativity“ department. They also were the winners in the total addition. A highlight of the program was again the presentation of the f‐cell Award for products and research. In the products department Alston won it for the first commuter train running on fuel cells. Hahn‐Schickard won the research competition with a new electrode material. (Press releases of Peter Sauber Agentur of 11. September 2019 and of H2BZ‐Initiative Hessen)

LINDE INVESTS IN ITM ITM Power gets a total of 52 M£ (59 M€) of fresh money from investors. The lion’s share of 38 M£ (43 M€) comes from Linde. Linde and ITM intend to set up a daughter company. It will be devoted to making big electrolysers (from 5 MW upwards). Such plants are needed in the industry which demands powers of 10 MW and more. (ITM press release of 3. October 2019)

German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association

Hydrogen Mirror 6/2019

MOBILE APPLICATIONS NEXO: MUCH MORE DEMAND THAN OFFER Hyundai had planned to sell 1500 Nexo fuel cell cars this year. But they got 5500 orders from South Korea alone. So customers in America or Europe have to wait for the time being. Hydrogen fuel cell business head Dr Sae‐Hoon explained this “with good subsidies available in Korea that could be cut off at any time the decision was made to fulfil those orders”. Hyundai has invested in upping its production capacity of fuel cell vehicles to 40,000 per year. Sae said that „at around 200,000 units a year you get the scale to buy the materials you need at a cost that could put a hydrogen car on a cost par with today’s battery‐electric vehicles. At the current rate of demand I can see that happening within five years” (autocar.co.uk of 17. September 2019)

BMW SHOWS FUEL CELL PROTOTYPE The BMW fuel cell car prototype, which had been announced before, was first shown in September on the IAA car fair in . Externally it looks very similar to a BMW X5. Details from under the hood or other technical details were not shown. Around 2022 we will be wiser. (BMW Press release)

EAST HESSEN WANTS 1.000 FUEL CELL VEHICLES In late September 2019 the Planning Office of the city of Fulda has submitted a raw concept for the decarbonization of transport in Hessen (HyWheels). More than 30 actors intend to refine it during the next year and to find options for a sustainable hydrogen economy in East Hessen. The focus of the HyWheels concept is to turn away from fossil fuels in transport in favour of fuel cell vehicles., to reduce CO2 emissions and to build a sustainable green hydrogen economy. Of particular importance for the investigations in HyWheels is the use of hydrogen trucks. The actors see here a potential for the purchase of at least 1000 vehicles running on hydrogen. Apart from trucks these will also be buses, car sharing fleets and zero‐emission vehicles for internal materials transport. (H2BZ press release of 21. October 2019)

MORE PUSH FOR HYDROGEN SHIPS BEHALA mbH – the company running the ports and their storage houses in – has announced that world’s first zero‐emission push boat will be built under the name „ELEKTRA“. For the first time the energy for the channel boat will come from hydrogen gas, fuel cells, and batteries alone. Building will German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association

Hydrogen Mirror 6/2019 start in October 2019, and it will be ready in the 4th quarter of 2020. ELEKTRA will be used mainly on the route Berlin – Hamburg and for transport inside Berlin. The project has a total volume of ca. 13 M€ and gets funded with 8 M€ by the Federal Ministry for Transport. It will be coordinated by the Project Office Jülich (PTJ) as well as the National Organisation for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NOW). (NOW press release of 22. August 2019)

INFRASTRUCTURE NEW REFILLING STATIONS IN GERMANY On 26. September H2 MOBILITY Germany and its shareholders Shell and Air Liquide opened the first joint hydrogen refilling station in Mönchengladbach (located on the lower ) – the 75th so far in Germany.

NEW STATION IN CALIFORNIA: OAKLAND USES LIQUID STORAGE A new hydrogen refilling station has been opened in Oakland, California. Since there are now 7400 fuel cell vehicles in the state the hydrogen is stored in the liquid phase. The capacity of 800 kg. This three times the amount of the other stations which store the hydrogen in the gas phase. (Press release of the California Fuel Cell Partnership of 20. September)

STATIONARY APPLICATIONS LIGHTHOUSE IN THE PORT OF HAMBURG The biggest electrolysis plant of the world with a power input of 100 MW will be built in the port of Hamburg. Before the end of this year the final decisions about the plant will be made, according to Hamburg’s Senator for Economy Michael Westhagemann. 100 MW electrolysis for hydrogen production would be a new order of magnitude. The biggest plants at this time use 10 MW, usually much less. The plant in the port of Hamburg will be modular so that it can be extended according to demand. German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association

Hydrogen Mirror 6/2019

„I want to see such a lighthouse here in Hamburg and in Northern Germany“, Senator Westhagemann said. Building the plant will cost a three‐digit amount of M€ and will be supported by funds from the Federation and the EU. The will provide the building place. The port of Hamburg was said to be an ideal site for such a big electrolysis. At this time hydrogen is still expensive, but politics can give the right signal by supporting the technology and investing in it. Larger amounts produced will also make hydrogen more economic. (Der SPIEGEL online of 5. September 2019)

FUEL CELL HEATING FOR PURE HYDROGEN On the IFA fair 2019, which was held from 6. to 11. September in Berlin, Panasonic showed new fuel cell heating devices for private homes. The two devices with an electrical power of 0.7 and 5 kW, respectively, run on pure hydrogen and show Panasonic’s ideas about heating appliances of the future when the share of renewable gases in the grid increases. At this time devices usually are supplied with natural gas which must go through a reformer. Up to ten of the plants can be installed in a cascade. Market introduction will be in 2021 in Japan. (ASUE press release of 10. October 2019)

RESEARCH NEWS HOT ELECTROLYSIS Norwegian scientists have developed a new kind of electrolysis. They do not crack liquid water, but hot vapours. This is more efficient in terms of thermodynamics, because the high temperature supports the reaction. It is also more economic because it is cheaper to generate heat than electricity. Third no noble metals or other expensive substances are needed as catalysts. And finally the hydrogen gained this way is very pure so that a complicated conditioning of the gas is not necessary. E. Vøllestad et al., Nature Materials 18 (2019) 752‐9; DOI: 10.1038/s41563‐019‐0388‐2

German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association

Hydrogen Mirror 6/2019

ENERGY AND CLIMATE A NEW SUPPORTING LEG FOR NORTHERN FRIESLAND Using power from renewable sources for hydrogen production offers the chance to ensure a climate friendly heat and fuel supply. This has an economic potential in particular for wind turbine operators on the Western coast of Schleswig‐Holstein (Germany’s most northern state) with their excess offer of green power. This is the result of a study done by IPP ESN Power Engineering from , which had been ordered by the County of Nordfriesland and the Grid Agency Renewable Energy Schleswig‐Holstein (EE.SH). All garbage collection vehicles in the whole state of Schleswig‐Holstein, for example, could run on hydrogen produced with power from only one third of the wind turbines which will not be funded any more after 2020 under the terms of the Renewable Power Law. Dieter Harrsen, head of the county administration, appeals to politics: „As long as nobody has to pay the price for the climate damage from the use of fossil resources green hydrogen will not be competitive.“ (EE.SH press release of 4. October 2019)

BUSINESS WILL GO ON WITH HYDROGEN Funding from the Renewable Energy Law (EEG) for the oldest wind turbines will end after 20 operating years with the end of the year 2020. Many operators of such plants consider what the future of these plants may be. The role of “green” hydrogen was discussed on 26. September 2019 by some 60 experts from energy providers and the hydrogen and fuel cell field in Heppenheim (Hessen, Germany). While there was a lot of discussion about the ways to the end most participants agreed that green hydrogen made from can contribute to building of regional value creation chains. (Press release of HA Hessen Agentur of 2. October 2019)

POLITICS DOES GERMANY NEED A HYDROGEN STRATEGY? Seriously …? Well, this was the topic of the 9th DWV Economic Talks held on 23. September. DWV chairman Werner Diwald hosted the Parliamentary Secretary of State Thomas Bareiß (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy), Andreas Rimkus (Member of Parliament), Prof. Dr. Ralf Wehrspohn (Fraunhofer IMWS), Samuel Alt (Siemens AG) and Dr. Volker Bartsch (DVGW). In his opening statement he demanded a progressive orientation of the hydrogen strategy being drafted by the Federal Government, which should also be a hydrogen industry strategy. For the domestic German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association

Hydrogen Mirror 6/2019 demand alone forecasts say that electrolysis for 10 G€ per year and more than 70 000 full time jobs in the German industry will be necessary. Industry representatives agreed that they are prepared for the market introduction. What is needed are clear investment and legal rules for the market. Politicians from various parties as well agreed that the hydrogen strategy must make it possible to industry and investors to make the next step.

WHAT THURINGIA IS PLANNING On 9. October , of environment of the state of Thuringia, presented a plan for building up a hydrogen economy in her state. It is meant to promote the energy transition in particular in the field of heat and transport. Hydrogen energy will supply trains and trucks as well as provide heating and cooling for buildings. Research and development will be supported by lighthouse projects such as hydrogen trains or buses or methane made from hydrogen in the gas grid for heating without CO2 emissions. On top there will be applications in garbage economy or zero‐emission logistics. The objective is to make heating and transport climate neutral, and hydrogen technology will contribute to get this done. (Press release of the ministry for the environment of Thuringia of 9. October 2019)

CHINA ELIMINATES SUBSIDIES China will eliminate hydrogen fuel‐cell car subsidies at the end of 2020. The funding program started in 2009 had already been stopped earlier for battery and hybrid vehicles. Now the fuel cells are the target because the Ministry of Finance is not satisfied with the results. Car makers relied too much on state money, it was said, they did not become competitive on a global scale, and technical break‐throughs and fast development did not happen. Non‐financial incentives, in particular on the level of the communities, are still possible. (China Daily 14. October 2019)

PEOPLE Pascal Mauberger, Chief Officer of McPhy, has resigned this office. He headed the company for the last 11 years and made it an important player in France and Europe. Mauberger keeps his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Laurent Carme, aged 43, has been appointed as his successor as Chief Executive Officer of McPhy. Unlike Mauberger he is not an expert from science or German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association

Hydrogen Mirror 6/2019 engineering. He worked as advisor and was concerned with industrial strategy missions. Before he joined McPhy he worked for Alstom and GE. During this time he acquired an extensive knowledge about wind and hydropower business. (McPhy press release of 2. October 2019)

i Imprint Published by the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (DWV), Berlin, Germany Editor: Dr. Ulrich Schmidtchen, Berlin Letters: Moltkestr. 42, 12203 Berlin, Germany Phone: +49 (30) 39820 9946‐0 Fax: +49 (30) 39820 9946‐9 Mail: h2@dwv‐info.de