Swiss energy company H2 Energy Europe AG will partner with Germany-based Open Grid Europe GmbH (OGE) to build a hydrogen value chain, including hydrogen production and distribution and the supply of hydrogen for fuel-cell trucks, to support the green transition in freight transport.
The concept has been already tested in Switzerland and will be now applied in the neighbouring country, the two companies said on Thursday.
The green hydrogen will be supplied from a 1-GW electrolysis complex that H2 Energy Europe is planning to build in Esbjerg, Denmark. The electrolysers will run on power from wind parks in the North Sea.
The green hydrogen will be used to supply a network of up to 250 refuelling stations that the Swiss company and its partner, US energy manufacturing and logistics company Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX), will develop across Germany, Austria and Denmark by 2026.
OGE will be responsible for the transportation of the green hydrogen via pipeline to regional "pipeline hubs" where the gas will be processed, compressed and filled into cylinders. From these regional hubs, the fuel will be transported to the refuelling stations in the region by trucks until a local hydrogen network is available.
OGE is currently working on a Germany-wide hydrogen infrastructure, converting its existing gas pipelines to be capable of transporting hydrogen. Parts of the network will be commissioned as early as 2024, while a large-scale transmission system is set to be completed by the end of the decade.
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