Virtual Study Tour Hydrogen

The delegation featured a group of 30 companies plus the associated ministries, Ministry of Energy Chile and the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz.
The tour, which consisted of virtual visits to eight companies, had the objective to learn about best practices in the hydrogen sector, in order to apply them to the local reality and thus be prepared to face the energy future.

This virtual tour was organised by AHK Chile and was taking place within the framework of the Energy Partnership Chile-Alemania, an alliance that seeks to increase energy efficiency, promote greater use of renewable energies and transform the energy systems of both countries for the future.

On the first day, the BMWK presented Germany's National Hydrogen Strategy. Then we moved on to the world of research with the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS, Zentrum für Sonnenenergie und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg ZSW and the Technische Universität Berlin, Institut für Chemie.

The delegation had the opportunity to visit the green hydrogen and biogas hybrid plant of Enertrag AG, which started in 2011, to learn first-hand about the production of green hydrogen from wind energy, as a fuel for vehicles, heating, industry and more.
To learn more about Enertrag visit the page: https://enertrag.com/en/windgas-wasserstoff-aus-windenergie.

We visited GP JOULE's "eFarm", a project that converts electricity from 5 wind farms into green hydrogen, for example for cars and buses. For this purpose, 5 electrolysers (225 kW) were installed. The heat from electrolysis feeds the local heating grid.
To learn more about the project visit the page: https://www.gp-joule.com/en/references/hydrogen/efarm

Our second visit was to the Apex Energy Teterow GmbH Group. Located in Rostock-Laage, Apex is a leading developer of solutions for hydrogen power plants in Germany. The entire site will be operated carbon-neutral by a 2 MW hydrogen system and will supply heat and electricity.

To learn more about APEX Energy Teterow GmbH watch the following video: https://www.apex-group.de/our-offer/overview-apex/

First we visited the H&R Group's specialist refinery "H&R Ölwerke Schindler": "H&R KGaA is a company based in Germany yet active internationally. Our core business is the development and manufacture of specialty chemicals / pharmaceuticals based on crude oil and precision plastic components. More than 1,700 employees in 42 branches and 10 countries generated a turnover of approximately 1 billion".
To find out more about H&R Ölwerke Schindler visit the website: https://www.hur.com/en/hur-ag/locations/europe/hr-oelwerke-schindler/

Our second visit was to FAUN Umwelttechnik GmbH & Co. KG . The company uses a hybrid technology that combines hydrogen fuel cells and electric batteries to increase the range of waste collection and cleaning vehicles. The technology with electric motors and H2 tanks allows up to 40% less energy to be used and causes no emissions.
To learn more about FAUN Umwelttechnik GmbH & Co. KG please visit the following page: https://www.faun.com/
and watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8Pl1ekvrJM&ab

The project initiative "ENTREE100" in the Heide Region (Entwicklungsagentur Region Heide) is a large-scale demonstration environment for innovative Power-to-X technology (60 partners covering more than 25 topics). This is where an industrial society is testing what it shall be able to achieve in the future: near-carbon-neutral power generation and production of goods. The participating projects incorporate heating, mobility, consumer habits, industrial applications among others, as well as scientific research.
The basic technologies are the processes of converting electricity into gas, liquids and chemicals (initially with a 30-megawatt electrolyser with wind power). Intelligent control systems aim to achieve a highly safe, flexible and resilient energy system that is socially, ecologically and economically sustainable in the long term.
To learn more about ENTRE100 visit the following page: https://www.region-heide.de/projekte/in-entree100.html

Our delegation ended with two other interesting visits and fruitful discussions:

As one of the leading steel and technology groups in Europe, Salzgitter AG is pioneering the production of carbon-reduced  steel with green hydrogen with its Klimainitiative SALCOS® project. Thanks to Simon Kroop for the excellent tour of the facility.
To learn more about SALCOS® visit the following page: https://salcos.salzgitter-ag.com/en/index.html
To learn more about the GreenIndustrialHydrogen project visit the following page: https://salcos.salzgitter-ag.com/de/grinhy-20.html

Then, Siemens Energy presented its technological solutions for generating green hydrogen from fluctuating energy sources such as sun and wind. They also shared some news about hydrogen projects that are just around the corner.
To learn more about Siemens Energy visit the following page: https://www.siemens-energy.com/global/en/home/products-services/product-offerings/hydrogen-solutions.html
To learn more about the Siemens hydrogen production plant visit the following page:  https://www.h2-view.com/story/siemens-to-build-large-hydrogen-production-plant-in-germany/​​​​​​​

This virtual tour was organized by AHK Chile and tookplace in the framework of the Energy Partnership Chile-Alemania.