Ground broken at new hydrogen fuel facility in Germany

New hydrogen fuel facility begins taking form

ITM Power, a leading developer of hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen-centric technologies, has announced that ground has been broken on a new power-to-gas facility that is taking root in Frankfurt, Germany. The company has teamed with the Thuga Group, an energy utility conglomerate based in Germany, in order to demonstrate the benefits of an effective power-to-gas system. The facility is currently slated to begin producing and supplying hydrogen fuel into the German infrastructure by the end of the year.

New facility to mix hydrogen with natural gas

Frankfurt is considered an ideal location for a power-to-gas project due to the availability of its gas infrastructure. A new infrastructure does not need to be established in order for the gas-to-power facility to be able to provide hydrogen fuel in an effective manner and the facility can begin production without having to wait for such an infrastructure to take form. When the facility is operational, it will be able to produce approximately 60 cubic meters of hydrogen fuel every hour, which will be combined with 3,000 cubic meters of natural gas.

Germany continues transition toward renewable energy

The facility is meant to show how effective a power-to-gas facility can be for Germany’s energy purposes. The country has been undergoing an energy transition, moving away from fossil-fuels toward more environmentally friendly and sustainable forms of power. Thus far, solar and wind energy have become the most popular forms of clean power in the country, but hydrogen fuel has established a great deal of support within the transportation sector. Transportation is not the only way hydrogen can be used effectively, of course, and ITM Power and the Thuga Group are eager to show off the other capabilities of this type of renewable energy.

2016 expansion will focus on converting hydrogen to methane

If the power-to-gas facility can live up to the hype that is beginning to surround it, an expansion upon the facility is planned for 2016. The expansion will see the hydrogen produced at the facility converted into methane, which will be directly injected into the German gas infrastructure. The facility will continue to produce hydrogen after the expansion, but only for the purpose of converting this gas into methane.