Two years ago Sandvik and the municipality of Sandviken openend a hydrogen refuelling station. According to Petra Einarsson, president of Sandvik Material Technologies, the 6000 people who work for Sandvik in Sandviken were able to get familiar with FCH technologies and first applications. Sankvik, one of Scandinavia’s largest steel companies prodcues materials and coating technology for bipolar plates in Sandviken.

The steel industry is becoming increasingly interested in the use green hydorgen as iron ore is reduced by carbon from coal or charcoal for iron/steel fabrication. The ensuing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions at a rate of some 2.2 kg CO₂per kg of liquid steel for reduction are in the order of 10% of the world’s anthropogenic CO₂ emissions from burning fossil fuel.  Sbubstituting carbon with hydrogen would have a large potential to reduce the greenhouse gas CO₂ emissions in iron/steel production. The world potential H2 need in th 610 GNm 3 or 52 Mt/yr and EU potential need: 68 GNm 3/yr or 5.8 Mt/yr according to an IEA paper. (World Hydrogen production is 7 mln Mt per year.

The EHA therefor decided to have its 16th AGM on the occasion of the 6th HFC Nordic event co-organized by the EHA members Hydrogen Sweden and Norwegian Hydrogen Forum, right in the middel of a steel industry community.

Impressions of HFC Nordic 2016 opening session:

1. Siemens Electrolysers: Paris COP 21 told us to store 2 degrees of energy
2. PowerCell: msall FC producers already installing frist system in China
3. NEL (scaling up their HRS productuion to 300:  276M€ was paid in 2015 to German wind producers for electricity that couldl not be put into the grid:
4. Norway state budget for20 stations in 2020,  fuel cell ferries and looking at trains as well: towards using just ONE fuel instead of many
5. SymbioFCell kit to convert for example a Kangoo (list price 23.500) costs €33K: best custoemr is French firebrigade
6. SINTEF estimate H2 need at 60.000 tons in a high pace scenario by 2025 and included trains as of 2025:  see photo (50.000 FCEV in 2025).
7. Ballard is powering 100 FC buses in 12 countries clocking over 10 mln km to date.
8. SINTEF verified substitution of overhead lines for the Nordland raiilwayline  with H2