Axpo to deliver hydrogen to Coop's new network of service stations

Apr 14, 2015 -- MarketLine

Axpo Holding AG, an electric utility, and Coop Cooperative, a retail group, have signed a letter of intent, or LoI, according to which Axpo will deliver hydrogen produced with electricity generated by an Axpo hydropower plant to Coop's new network of service stations.

After opening the first public fuelling station for hydrogen-powered vehicles in Switzerland, Coop will expand its offer to other service stations. This project makes an important contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions by vehicles and opens up a new and attractive field of business for Axpo.

According to the signed letter of intent, these two partners are planning to open the first public hydrogen fuelling station in Switzerland. The step-by-step expansion of the service is planned for the medium term. As the largest producer of renewable energies in Switzerland, Axpo will produce the hydrogen that is needed, using only electricity generated from renewable Swiss hydropower.

"If everything goes according to plan, Axpo will be able to make a direct contribution to reducing CO2 emissions from traffic. This dovetails neatly with our sustainability strategy to protect the climate. In the medium and long run we will also help to narrow Switzerland's dependence on fossil fuels by introducing a domestic, CO2-free energy carrier," says Andrew Walo, CEO of Axpo. In order to produce the hydrogen, Axpo will install an electrolyser at one of its existing run-of-river power plants. An electrolyser uses electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen can then be stored and delivered to the fuelling station as and when needed. The first hydrogen fuelling station is planned to open in 2016.

The EU is constantly tightening the CO2 regulations for new vehicles in the EU, and Switzerland copies these regulations. This creates a demand for new solutions. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles provide one answer to the problem, and the market is increasingly seeing the launch of first production vehicles. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles not only meet the demands for ecologically sustainable mobility, but also offer the comfort of a normal car: it only takes two to four minutes to fill up a car powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology with enough fuel to drive around 500 kilometers. This compares well to traditional internal combustion engines. The fuel costs per 100 kilometers for a hydrogen car will be similar to petrol and diesel vehicles. And instead of exhaust gases, a hydrogen car only emits water vapor. As Axpo intends to use clean hydropower to produce the hydrogen, the fuel will also be climate-neutral.

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