04.04.2024
Source: Energy & Management Powernews
Brandbrief to the Federal Ministry of Economics: Five federal states are calling for electrolysis to also be promoted in regions with less surplus electricity. One candidate is missing.
Where do the subsidies for the construction of electrolysers go? This is a question that is driving the federal states where green electricity for the production of green hydrogen is still in short supply. In a joint letter, they call on Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck (Greens) to promote a nationwide hydrogen ramp-up.
"An exclusive focus on actual production volumes of green hydrogen or the definition of so-called expansion areas for the system suitability of electrolysers, as is being discussed in some cases, would undoubtedly contribute to considerable inequality between the regions in terms of hydrogen ramp-up," they write in the letter, which is available to the editorial team.
The states also make suggestions on how inequality could be avoided. Funding for regions with less surplus electricity "could be possible if concepts take into account both the controllability of such plants - shutting them down when green electricity is scarce - and the waste heat from such plants as part of an overall assessment", according to the Ministry of Energy in Baden-Württemberg.
Thekla Walker (Greens), the state energy minister, emphasizes: "Hydrogen must also be produced where it is consumed. The federal core network will not be able to cover all industrial centers in the south. On-site electrolysis is an instrument for initiating the transition to climate-neutral production even before the connection to hydrogen pipelines."
The senders want regions outside of the currently planned hydrogen core network to be given the opportunity to start the hydrogen ramp-up early with electrolysis projects and establish H2 hubs. They believe it would be expedient in terms of energy and industrial policy "if requirements for the needs-based location of electrolysers were defined in electricity transmission and hydrogen core network development planning".
Bavaria is not aware of the letter
The letter was signed by Thekla Walker and her colleagues in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland. The southern state of Bavaria is missing. It was not so long ago that the white-blue Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) felt the displeasure of companies.
In the Bavarian chemical triangle, there is a lack of green electricity to decarbonize production processes in the coming years. The demand will double or even triple, they said. "That presupposes that we get enough hydrogen." Otherwise, electricity consumption would be even higher due to the electrolysers, which would then have to be built on site," said a spokesperson for a business initiative at the time.
There is a simple reason why Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs is not one of the signatories: "The Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy does not have the aforementioned letter," a ministry spokesperson told the editorial team.
Bavaria has a "great interest in accelerating the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy with equally favorable framework conditions for all regions". It had already presented its own hydrogen strategy in May 2020 and was "actively moving forward with its own electrolyser funding program", among other things.
Author: Manfred Fischer
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