Full throttle to hydrogen

  “In Germany hydrogen is the greatest hope nationwide when it comes to keeping existing power plant sites like the “Ingelheimer Aue” running.

 

     There are not too many options for centrally heating entire city districts in winter and supplying large industrial companies with electricity around the clock.

 

     If you subtract the fossil fuels previously used for this purpose, such as coal, oil and natural gas, what remains is primarily hydrogen to make existing power plant locations such as the Ingelheimer Aue in Mainz fit for the next decades.

 

     Seen in this light, it is certainly not too early for those responsible there to start building a future power plant, which, according to plans, will initially run on natural gas for a while, but from 2035 onwards at the latest will only run on hydrogen. Proponents of a faster and most consistent energy and heat transition criticize the “hydrogen rush” that is currently evident throughout the country. Because from a climate policy perspective, this sends the wrong signal and is also very expensive. All in all, this will only enable longer use of fossil fuels. As in Mainz and Wiesbaden, there are also concrete considerations in Hanau and Frankfurt for the near future with combined natural gas and hydrogen solutions. The associated investments, which often have to be made by the municipal utilities, are enormous: the future power plant in Mainz alone is expected to cost a mid-three-digit million amount. They also want to expand the urban district heating network on a large scale and also build a regional hydrogen distribution system for Rhine-Main. All cities, municipalities and districts that avowedly want to become climate-neutral in the next ten to 20 years are already under a lot of pressure if they want to put concrete content into the word “energy transition,” which is actually so easily uttered. It is said in Mainz that the future power plant planned for 2028 will certainly not be built without federal funding. A “final investment decision” should therefore only be made in the autumn: time is running out!” [1]

1. Mit Vollgas zum Wasserstoff. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (online) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH. Apr 5, 2024. Von Markus Schug