E.ON Exec Chairs German Hydrogen Council

The German government's hydrogen council is to be chaired by E.ON's Katherina Reich, the German utility said July 9, after the council's constituent meeting.

Reiche said the council would make a major contribution to implementing and further developing the German government's hydrogen strategy. "Together with the members of the council, I will do my utmost to ensure that Germany will play a leading role in hydrogen technologies worldwide,” she said.

E.ON said it was driving forward the further development of hydrogen and power-to-gas technologies in projects at various stages of the value chain. The knowledge and experience gained in these projects is being used to implement the national hydrogen strategy.

E.ON's goal is to be in a position by 2030 to add “green” gases to natural gas both via decentralised power to gas plants and by integrating them into the planned hydrogen pipeline network in the distribution networks or, if necessary, to be able to take over a supply of 100% hydrogen. Finnish state-owned Uniper, a former subsidiary of E.ON, is also represented on the council. Industry group Zukunft Erdgas is pushing for the inclusion of  blue hydrogen in the national strategy.

Following the publication of the European Commission's hydrogen strategy July 8, traders and industry bodies have urged for a technology-neutral approach to the net-zero carbon goal, with all forms of decarbonisation to be treated equally with a hydrogen market and an extended carbon market to encourage switching. This would include blue hydrogen, which is produced from methane but is combined with carbon capture and storage, or turquoise hydrogen, produced from methane using pyrolysis, which some argue is greener than green hydrogen, if the latter process is powered by surplus renewable energy.