Energy transition knows no borders

In the near future, Switzerland will also need green hydrogen to replace fossil fuels. At the Rhine bend, cooperation is taking place across national borders and projects are being pushed forward more quickly as a result.

The plans for the European hydrogen network according to the European Hydrogen Backbone initiative. Source: EHB

Not only biogas and bio-LNG/LBG enable climate-neutral mobility or almost CO₂-neutral energy and heat use, but also green hydrogen. Therefore, investments are being made in larger biogas production throughout Europe and hydrogen projects are being pushed forward. The European Hydrogen Backbone initiative, which now has 32 members from 28 countries, is committed to the network and market expansion of hydrogen. After all, green hydrogen is to become another building block for the energy transition.

GP Joule and Quantron team up for the Swabia hydrogen project: (from left to right) Heinrich Gärtner, co-founder and CTO of GP Joule, Member of the State Parliament Fabian Mehring, Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger, Andreas Haller, founder and CEO of Quantron AG, District Administrator Markus Müller and André Steinau, Managing Director GP Joule Hydrogen. Source: GP Joule

Especially in Germany, where a national hydrogen strategy is already in place and subsidies are already flowing in abundance, new projects are being launched every week. For example, the energy supplier GP Joule and Quantron, a system provider of battery and hydrogen-powered e-mobility, want to push the production of green hydrogen in Swabia and cooperate on filling stations for trucks, buses and cars.

The hydrogen engine developed by Mahle together with other partners. Source: Mahle

The large automotive supplier Mahle recently proudly presented a hydrogen engine for commercial vehicles. Mahle boss Arnd Franz made it clear: “To achieve the ambitious climate goals, we need innovative competition and not ideologically driven technology specifications. The mobility needs for people and goods are enormously diverse. That’s why we should think in terms of diversity of technologies.”

Pierre Müller, Head of Logistics at Migros Basel, relies on biogas trucks as well as H₂ trucks, among others, for truck transports and advocates openness to technology. Source: CNG-Mobility.ch

The Basel region does not want to miss the boat on the subject of hydrogen and has therefore already joined forces in the tri-border region in the summer of 2022 to form the so-called trinational hydrogen initiative “3H₂“. Together with partners from Germany and France, the Basel Chamber of Commerce, the energy supplier IWB and the Climate Platform of the Basel Region Economy want to lay the foundation for achieving the ambitious climate goal of net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050 and still remain a successful and attractive economic and living space. “If we join forces across countries, we can achieve the transformation of the energy system and our set climate goals more quickly,” Winfried Kretschmann, Minister President of the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg, is convinced.

With hydrogen production in Birsfelden, IWB is aiming for a cross-border hydrogen economy in the border triangle. Source: IWB visualisation

In the Basel border triangle there is a high degree of cross-border economic interdependence, so it makes particularly much sense to join forces here across national borders and jointly drive forward the energy transition. For example, IWB, together with the Swiss Rhine ports, Fritz Meyer AG and other players, is building an “H₂ Hub Schweiz” to promote the production, distribution and use of green hydrogen in the region. A production plant for green hydrogen is to be built in the port of Birsfelden BL, which will one day have a capacity of 15 megawatts and thus be able to produce around 1500 tonnes of green hydrogen per year.

The trinational initiative “3H₂“ was founded in 2022 and aims to strengthen the business location in the Basel region beyond the national borders. Source: 3H₂

At the next “3H₂” forum on 5 October in Kirchzarten, Germany, Sven König from IWB will explain more about the status of the project. Other points on the hydrogen ecosystem that is to develop in the border triangle and current trends from technology, science as well as research on the topic of green hydrogen will also be covered. Further details on the programme can be found here. (pd/jas, 22 August 2023)