Almost 200 tons of hydrogen will be produced in the Mainz energy park in order to drive public buses in a more environmentally friendly manner in the future. But the buses are a long time coming.
Around 180 tons of environmentally friendly hydrogen are produced annually in the energy park in Mainz – with the help of wind turbines. It should be 200 tons: According to Jonas Aichinger, the head of innovation management at the Mainz municipal utility, up to 40 buses could be operated. But they are almost impossible to get at the moment. A promised delivery of eleven buses for Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Frankfurt was canceled at short notice.
The planned hydrogen filling station for buses in Wiesbaden should still start on February 27. Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse each financed their construction with around one million euros, according to the Hessen agency. The petrol station is supplied from the energy park.
1000 homes supplied
Jonas Aichinger, Head of Innovation Management Mainzer Stadtwerke AG, is at the Energie Park Mainz: He is convinced of the hydrogen idea.
The plant started as a research project around eight years ago and is one of the largest of its kind in the world. However, it is not yet commercially successful.
In the Ebersheim district of Mainz, the energy park already supplies 1000 house connections with environmentally friendly hydrogen. This site is unique in Germany, says Aichinger. “We replace ten percent of natural gas with hydrogen.” About a fifth of the hydrogen produced in the energy park is fed into the local natural gas network and thus supplies households with climate-neutral benefits.
Source: DPA
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