Hydrogen and Hydro: Fuelling the future

Following the July 2021 agreement, a pilot project in Europe will mark the start of the collaboration before the end of this year. Subsequently, the companies want to jointly identify further projects and implement them in the context of the German Federal Government's H2 global initiative. H2GLOBAL is a market-based funding platform that aims to efficiently promote the market launch of green hydrogen and hydrogen-based ‘power-to-X’ products. For this purpose, hydrogen energy partnerships are to be established in countries with a correspondingly high potential to provide a long-term, cost-effective and reliable green hydrogen supply to Germany and the EU.

The initial joint pilot project is expected to provide about 650 tonnes of green hydrogen per year by using electrolysis with a capacity of up to 4 MW, initially for local use. In follow-up projects, designed for the hydrogen export market, the installed electrolysis capacity is expected to increase up to 100 MW.

“Hydropower is one of the few completely climate-neutral forms of energy, providing base-load power. We therefore see excellent potential for worldwide expansion – in greenfield projects just as much as in repowering. By adding the possibility of producing hydrogen to hydropower plants, we are taking the next step and also making the energy generated there ready for export and storage without restriction. Together with MAN Energy Solutions, we can open up new markets and opportunities for hydropower plant owners and operators,” stated Frank Mette, CEO of ANDRITZ Hydro in Germany.