Axpo to produce green H2 from Swiss hydro plant

Swiss utility Axpo plans to produce green hydrogen using power from the Eglisau-Glattfelden hydropower plant on the Rhine.

The project will include a 2.5MW hydrogen production facility capable of producing up to 350 t/yr of green hydrogen. But the plant's capacity could be doubled to 5MW if demand for green hydrogen increases. The plant is scheduled to go on stream in autumn 2022.

Axpo aims to develop projects with a combined capacity of 5MW by 2022, with more plants similar to the Eglisau-Glattfelden project in the pipeline, the company said.

Swiss firm Hydrospider will deliver the hydrogen produced at the plant to a network of filling stations for use in hydrogen fuel cells.

The Eglisau-Glattfelden run-of-river hydropower plant has a capacity of 43.4MW and produces 310 GWh/yr of electricity. Run-of-river generation made up 4.6pc of Switzerland's generation mix in 2020, up from 3.8pc a year earlier.

By Sian Morris