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What works well in Norway is not even close yet to being established in Germany, criticizes the Greens/Bündnis 90 party. They want to speed up the pace with e-charging stations. Without hydrogen, this threatens the collapse of the German power grid, warns “ThinkTank-H2”.

Baden-Baden (Germany), 09/20/2021 – “ThinkTank-H2 e.V.” calls on the future Federal Government to take a closer look at hydrogen as an electricity storage system in the coming legislative period. E-mobility with a tightly developed charging station network like in Oslo is doomed to failure in Germany without a hydrogen storage. A further load on the power grid would lead to the collapse of the power grid. The problem: the lack of electricity storage. With the two-billioneuro “Nordlink” submarine cable between Norway and the Continent, the German government is relying on a storage compensation abroad. This, however, in the opinion of scientists, does not create the necessary capacities. It links the power grids of Germany and Norway with each other. Germany’s net exports to Norway would exceed electricity production from normal hydro powerplants. In Norway, there are no pumped storage power plants.

Hydrogen, on the other hand, offers immense possibilities for storing electricity, Christian Heiselbetz of “THINK TANK-H2 e.V.” in Baden-Baden (Germany) says. Electrolysis can be used to produce hydrogen from water using electricity. This hydrogen can be used directly, stored or chemically or biologically converted into methane in the power-to-gas process using bacteria. Here, there are scientific resources to explore the possibilities.

Hydrogen can be stored in the gaseous state in pressure tanks or as a liquefied gas in special cold tanks. In addition, various substances and materials are suitable as carrier media in which hydrogen can be stored and transported. Conversion into hydrogen enables indirect storage. With low electricity production, when there is not enough wind, the stored hydrogen can be
converted back into energy and fed into the power grid. Hydrogen can also be used to power factories as well as vehicles such as cars, trucks, or ships. The purpose of “THINK-TANK H2 e.V.” is realized by initiating, promoting, and networking projects in which ideas for high technology are developed and market-oriented solutions are implemented. “We want to promote CO2-neutral mobility with hydrogen”, Heiselbetz continues.

Background: “THINK-TANK H2 e.V.” is independent and open to technology. It wants to provide guidance in the jungle of interests and arguments around the topic of hydrogen. To this end, it wants to initiate and support concrete projects for the introduction of hydrogen in all sectors. As an “honest broker”, it wants to mediate between the different interests. Members are high-ranking representatives from business, science, and politics.

Further information and images can be found at https://thinktank-h2.org.