13. December 2024
Axpo, the energy company based in Baden in the canton of Aargau, continues to drive the development of the hydrogen economy in Switzerland with its second green hydrogen production plant, further details of which can be found in a press release. Together with its partners, Schätzle AG, EWA-Energie Uri and SGV Holding AG, Axpo celebrated breaking ground in the construction project for its future hydrogen production plant on Friday, December 13.
The plant is being built adjacent to the EWA-Energie Uri hydropower plant in Bürglen in the canton of Uri, Switzerland. This will also provide green energy for the production of the hydrogen. Each year, up to 260 tons of green hydrogen is to be produced, resulting in a saving of one million liters of diesel, as Axpo writes in the press release.
From 2026, the hydrogen from the production plant with an output of 2 megawatts will, among other aspects, be used to fuel the first hydrogen-powered passenger ship on Lake Lucerne. According to Stefan Schulthess, Managing Director of the Lake Lucerne Navigation Company (SGV), the company’s vessel MS Saphir is to be converted to a hydrogen fuel cell system in 2025. The planning, approval and conversion of the ship is being carried out by Shiptec AG in Lucerne, with the project also receiving support from the Federal Office of Transport (FOT).
“Having already gained valuable experience with our green H2 plant in Domat/Ems, this project in Bürglen is a continuation of our strategy to play our part in the development of the hydrogen economy in Switzerland”, comments Guy Bühler, Head of Power Plants and Green Gases at Axpo, in the press release.
Axpo is planning another production facility for green hydrogen in Wildegg-Brugg in the canton of Aargau. Following delays to securing the requisite construction permits, work is now expected to start in spring 2025. ce/gba
