IWB and Fritz Meyer AG Want to Provide the Transport Industry Green Hydrogen from New Plant

Electric vehicles have a future because they are more climate-friendly than vehicles with a combustion engine. In freight transport, there are still charging times, insufficient ranges, and the weight of the batteries. Hydrogen as the driving energy could solve these problems. Hydrogen vehicles are powered by electric motors; however, the electricity for the motors does not come from a heavy battery, but from a fuel cell that converts hydrogen into electrical energy – and emits nothing but water. A few kilograms of hydrogen enables ranges of several hundred kilometers. The technology has been tried and tested – but so far, there is no infrastructure for the production and distribution of environmentally friendly hydrogen.

Hydrogen production possible at the Birsfelden power plant
In Basel, the energy service provider IWB and the mineral oil dealer Fritz Meyer AG want to provide the transport industry and other interested parties with “green” – that is, generated from renewable energy sources – hydrogen. To do this, they are examining the construction of an electrolyzer for hydrogen production at the Birsfelden hydropower plant. In this plant, water is broken down into hydrogen and oxygen. The energy required for this is electricity from hydropower and comes directly from the neighboring Birsfelden power plant. In order to increase the efficiency of the plant, its waste heat could be used as heating energy for neighboring buildings. IWB and Fritz Meyer AG have therefore started discussions about a possible partnership. The two companies complement each other perfectly: IWB brings its expertise in the operation of energy production systems

Hydrogen completes electromobility
As more fossil fuels are abandoned, hydrogen is increasingly becoming the focus of attention. Produced from renewable electricity, it is a clean and portable energy storage. Combined with the use of waste heat, a good 80 percent of primary energy can be used. Especially in road traffic, hydrogen – as a supplement to battery-based mobility – can lead to a massive reduction in CO ₂-Emissions contribute. Various companies from the petroleum industry, the transport industry and the automotive industry have recently expressed interest in green hydrogen as an energy source. You have founded a sponsorship association with the aim of establishing a nationwide network of hydrogen filling stations in Switzerland. IWB and Fritz Meyer AG want to build on this and jointly offer the production and distribution of hydrogen from renewable energy. With potential customers in industry, but also at Euro-Airport and the Basel Rhine ports, the Basel region is predestined for a pilot test with this promising energy source. IWB and Fritz Meyer AG are looking for regional companies to develop the pilot