MAINZ / GROSS-GERAU-- Überlandwerk Groß-Gerau GmbH (ÜWG) has been involved in expanding the hydrogen business area in the Groß-Gerau region for almost ten years. A few years ago, the ÜWG was also the initial source of ideas for the Mainz energy park. In the energy park in the Hechtsheim district, Mainzer Stadtwerke AG and Linde have been successfully producing hydrogen by electrolysis since 2015. The energy park is one of the world's most innovative systems of its kind not only because of its peak electrolysis output of up to six megawatts. The electricity for the electrolysis comes from renewable energies - the hydrogen can thus be produced in an extremely environmentally friendly manner. In future, the ÜWG and the district of Groß-Gerau will also benefit from hydrogen as a bearer of hope: ÜWG managing director Jürgen Schmidt and Stadtwerke board member Dr. What is behind the strategic partnership and what does it mean for the Groß-Gerau district? "The ÜWG would like to secure the appropriate amounts of hydrogen by joining the energy park and also benefit from the knowledge of the former research project," explains ÜWG managing director Jürgen Schmidt. In addition, Mainzer Stadtwerke, Linde and ÜWG want to work more closely together on the subject of hydrogen in the medium term and jointly develop further viable business models and projects. Accordingly, further hydrogen sources in the region are to be developed jointly by the three partners in the future. The topic of hydrogen will play a bigger role in the Groß-Gerau district in the next few years, the ÜWG and the district's political representatives are certain. For example, the local public transport company in the Groß-Gerau district (LNVG) is relying on hydrogen and its mobility concept provides for the medium-term conversion of the entire line operation to hydrogen. "The Groß-Gerau district is working flat out on the sustainable use of emission-free drives for local public transport," explains District Administrator Thomas Will. “The use of the first fuel cell bus in scheduled services in May 2020 is the hoped-for signal for a change to non-fossil fuels. I hope that the energy carrier hydrogen will establish itself in many areas of society. The fact that we can now dock with the Mainz energy park with the ÜWG is another important step in this direction. " The first district member Walter Astheimer: “We have been developing strategies and projects in the district for many years to reduce greenhouse emissions and promote the conversion to renewable energies. We can do a lot against climate change locally in the district and in the district administration - it starts with the procurement of office supplies and does not end with the hopefully soon CO2-neutral local public transport. Our ambitious goal remains: We would like to see an emission-free fleet of buses on the lines of the district by 2030. " For the ÜWG, the energy carrier hydrogen offers interesting prospects in several areas: Currently, the ÜWG is accompanying and supporting, for example, the preliminary planning for the construction of a hydrogen filling station for the LNVG. A specific refueling concept is to be drawn up by the end of the year. The Groß-Gerau district is characterized, among other things, by the high density of storage and logistics centers. Here, too, there is a fundamental need to reduce CO2 in energy consumption. A large part of the energy falls on the internal movement of goods with forklifts, etc. Here, hydrogen-powered vehicles offer some serious advantages over the established battery-powered vehicles. To implement a project for the use of green hydrogen in intralogistics, ÜWG is first examining the basic requirements and the feasibility of such a project in a first phase. In addition, the ÜWG would like to participate in a research project in which the district of Groß-Gerau is to gain initial experience with the provision of hydrogen in public bus operations. The reputation of the ÜWG in the hydrogen sector is also demonstrated by the fact that the Überlandwerk Groß-Gerau GmbH has been running the business of the "Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Initiative Hessen eV" since autumn 2020 and has now also taken over the operations of the office from the LandesEnergieAgentur (LEA) Has. Mainzer Stadtwerke and Linde welcome the cooperation with ÜWG on the subject of hydrogen. Dr. Tobias Brosze: “A few years ago, the initial spark for the construction of the energy park came from the ranks of the ÜWG. The plant built in Hechtsheim has been part of Groß-Gerau since it was commissioned. With the now sealed cooperation, the subject of hydrogen as the energy carrier of the future will hopefully move more into the focus of business, politics and the public in the Groß-Gerau district in reality. " Dr. Mathias Kranz, Head of Onsite and Bulk Business Germany: “Linde has been using hydrogen for a long time, which can make a significant contribution to decarbonization. Due to its central location and the local industry, the Rhine-Main region will play an important role in the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. We are proud of the Mainz energy park and the good cooperation with the Mainz municipal utilities, which opens up many opportunities for us. We welcome the ÜWG as a new partner in the project network and look forward to working with them, also beyond the Mainz energy park. " In 2013, the Mainz energy park was started as a joint research project by the partners Linde, Siemens and Mainzer Stadtwerke under the scientific supervision of the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences with financial support from the Federal Ministry of Economics. The hydrogen produced in Hechtsheim from renewable electricity is partly fed into the natural gas network and partly transported to users in industry and mobility by trailer. The plant has been in commercial operation since the end of the research and funding phase in 2017. Since then, it has been operated jointly by Mainzer Stadtwerke AG and Linde GmbH. The municipal utilities have been using the experience gained in the project for several years to use electrolytically generated hydrogen as a future element for the CO 2 -free supply of the electricity, gas, heating, transport and industry sectors. Part of the hydrogen produced in Hechtsheim is fed into an existing natural gas pipeline and replaces part of the natural gas in around 1,000 households in the neighboring Ebersheim district. Technically, it is possible to add up to ten percent hydrogen to the natural gas network. Like the ÜWG, the Mainz municipal utilities also see great potential for the use of regeneratively generated hydrogen in the area of emission-free public transport and heavy goods vehicle transport. For this purpose, MSW has already set up a joint company filling station for hydrogen fuel cell buses through the Mainzer Verkehrsgesellschaft in cooperation with the ESWE Verkehrsgesellschaft in Wiesbaden. The first line buses in Mainz and Wiesbaden were already running on hydrogen, and both transport companies on the right and left of the Rhine are planning to buy more fuel cell line buses.

ÜWG to Cooperate with Mainz Energy Park to Expand Hydrogen in Groß-Gerau District