Wien Energie and Wiener Linien Open New Hydrogen Plant
The Viennese energy company Wien Energie and the Viennese public transport company Wiener Linien have opened a plant producing green hydrogen in the 11th district of Simmering. It is the first such facility in the Austrian capital, and the entire investment is worth 10 million euros.
The power of the plant is three megawatts, which can be used to produce up to 1,300 kilograms of green hydrogen per day from green energy. It is not unknown that hydrogen has been a topic of the future in Viennese circles for a long time, to which they are extremely dedicated. There are currently two hydrogen filling stations in the city, and one bus line should start running on hydrogen next year.
It is bus line 39A that runs between the city districts of Heiligenstadt and Sievering. As the area is quite demanding to drive, twelve meter long hydrogen-powered buses are the ideal solution for this challenging route.
The daily amount of hydrogen produced in the new facility can equip up to 60 buses or trucks
Also, it is very practical that there is also a filling station for the mentioned means of transport in the immediate vicinity of the plant in Simmering.
For the production of green hydrogen in Vienna, only electricity from renewable energy sources such as the sun, wind and water is used. In doing so, the electrolysis process is used, during which water is broken down into its constituent elements, i.e. into oxygen and hydrogen, whereby the oxygen is released into the atmosphere, and the hydrogen is compressed on the spot.
The city company Wiener Linien has been testing the use of green hydrogen as a bus engine since 2021
In addition to this, some private logistics companies are already pouring green hydrogen at filling stations in Vienna, such as the Austrian IKEA, for example. In addition to mobility, hydrogen is also used in other areas. As part of an operational experiment, the Viennese energy company added hydrogen to natural gas at the Donaustadt power plant.
The experiment proved to be successful and proved that the addition of only 15 percent of hydrogen can save up to 33,000 tons of carbon dioxide on an annual basis. By 2030, Vienna intends to become the central hydrogen hub in eastern Austria. This is a big step in realizing the Vienna climate plan and achieving climate neutrality by 2040.
Production of low-carbon hydrogen in northwestern Europe could reach more than 7 million tons per year by 2030
The European Union has reached a formal agreement on the Hydrogen and Decarbonized Gases Market Package, laying the foundations for a future European low-carbon hydrogen market.
Northwestern Europe is at the forefront of low-carbon hydrogen development. It accounts for about half of the total demand for hydrogen in Europe. It has huge and untapped renewable energy potential in the North Sea and a well-developed, interconnected gas network that could be partially repurposed to facilitate the transmission and distribution of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen from production sites to demand centers, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Overall, Northwestern European countries now have the ambition to develop 30 to 40 gigawatts (GW) of electrolyser capacity by 2030. However, recent market developments, inflation and rising costs could prompt countries to revise their targets.
In general, the focus has been on increasing hydrogen production, although attention is quickly shifting to driving demand. In addition to strong political support, regulatory certainty is key to unlocking the necessary investment to expand the low-carbon hydrogen market and facilitate trade across borders.
