ÖBB To Test Hydrogen Multiple-Units
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The national operator’s passenger business ÖBB Personenverkehr has awarded sole bidder Alstom a contract to provide two hydrogen fuel cell multiple-units for trials.
The trial should start in April.
World’s Largest Green Hydrogen Plant Begins Operation In Austria
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Recharge.
This is the subtitle, which says it all.
The 6MW facility in Linz, running Siemens electrolysers, will provide clean H2 for steel production.
Steel-making is a large source of carbon-dioxide emissions and this is said about how hydrogen can be used in the process.
In light of global climate targets, Voestalpine is currently investigating the practicality of a hybrid technology to bridge between the existing coke/coal-based blast furnace route and electric arc furnaces powered with green electricity partly generated using green hydrogen,” says Voestalpine. “If economically feasible, from today’s perspective this option would reduce the group’s CO2 emissions by around a third sometime between 2030 and 2035.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see steel-makers beat that target, especially as renewable energy production and hydrogen electrolyser capacity increases.
The article also details two other large green hydrogen production electrolysers.
A 10MW PEM electrolysis plant, REFHYNE, is under construction at Shell’s Rheinland refinery in Wesseling, Germany, and is due to be completed in the second half of 2020, while a 30MW pilot — part of a 700MW project — is expected to be up and running in northwest Germany by 2025.
There’s more about REFHYNE on their web site.
This is the introduction on the web site.
The REFHYNE project is at the forefront of the effort to supply Clean Refinery Hydrogen for Europe. The project is funded by the European Commission’s Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) and will install and operate the world’s largest hydrogen electrolyser the Shell Rhineland Refinery in Wesseling, Germany.
The plant will be operated by Shell and manufactured by ITM Power. The electrolyser has a peak capacity of 10 MW (megawatts) and will be able to produce approximately 1,300 tonnes of hydrogen per year. This decarbonised hydrogen can be fully integrated into refinery processes including the desulphurisation of conventional fuels
Hydrogen is coming.
It could be coming in a big way to the UK, as we have the capability to generate gigawatts of off-shore wind power and ITM Power have the world’s largest PEM electrolyser factory in Rotherham.
Austria Scraps Its Sun Tax
The eye-catching title of this post is the same vas that of this article on PV Magazine.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The nation’s political parties have found agreement on a green electricity package which is expected to create stable conditions for the next three years. From next year, €36 million will be made available annually for the further support of PV systems and energy storage.
As to the Sun Tax, this is explained further on.
The association has already seen one of its other demands met with the cancellation on Thursday of the ‘sun tax’ on the consumption of power generated by householders with rooftop arrays. Under the previous rules, solar households could consume 25 MWh of self-generated solar free of charge but then had to pay a €0.015 levy on every subsequent kilowatt-hour consumed during the life of the PV system.
|All parties seem pleased with the scrapping of the tax.
Will NightJet Connect To Eurostar?
NightJet is Austrian Railways sleeper service, that they took off the hands of the Germans when they closed it as a waste of money.
Ridership is increasing and they will be bringing in new trains in the next few years.
They also appear to have formed a partnership with Hungarian, Croatian and Polish Railways to take the network further East.
But what about the West? NightJet serves German cities like Cologne and Frankfurt, which are on Eurostar’s wish list.
Frankfurt is boring, but Cologne is the sort of city where you can fill time enjoyably.
So will we see travellers taking a morning Eurostar to Cologne, spend a day in the city and then take an overnight NightJet to Vienna. Vienna is linked by more NightJet services to places that non-European tourists love.
I don’t know the Austrian psyche well. But it does seem to me, that they have taken a loss-making Getman sleeper network and may succeed in turning it jnto something profitable and worthwhile with a little help from their friends. Do Austrians like getting one over the Germans?
A Eurostar connection in the West at Cologne and possibly in Switzerland, where NightJet runs to Zurich, would surely be beneficial. Eurostar have ambitions on Geneva and the connections between the two Swiss cities are good and picturesque!
I feel that we could be seeing the takibg of train tourism to a new level. How cuvilised?
Zillertalbahn Orders Stadler Hydrogen-Powered Trains
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the International Railway Journal.
This is the first paragraph.
Austria’s narrow-gauge Zillertalbahn announced on May 15 that Stadler is the successful bidder for a €80m contract to supply five hydrogen fuel cell multiple-units.
The Zillertal Railway is in the Tyrol district of Austria and has a gauge of 760 mm.
It looks like Stadler are supplying another market, that is rather special.
From Villach To Munich
This section of route had the major stop at Salzburg.
It was still raining, but at least I was clean and dry in First Class.
It would have been a much better trip in the sun, as for a lot of the route, the train runs on the Tauern Railway
Even my wet pictures show how spectacular it could be.
From Ljubljana To Villach
I took these pictures on the section of the journey from Ljubljana to Villach.
Note.
- The line is the Tarvisio-Ljubljana railway until Jesenice station effectively marks the border between Slovenia and Austria.
- After Jesenice, the line enters the nearly five mile long; Karawanks tunnel.
- There would appear to be a new station at Faak Am See or Lake Faak. Could it be a place to go camping or stay overnight?
- Long trains of cars are more common in Europe than in the UK.
At least the weather seemed to be getting a little bit better.
The Floods In Central Europe
A few weeks ago I was in Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna and Southern Germany.
Now it seems that much of the area is under water, as the BBC reports.
I know it was only luck, but I certainly got my timing right.
I’ve never ever been flooded out in a house and I don’t ever want to be.
My hearts go out to all of those who are suffering.
A Circular Journey In The Snow
Very often on a Sunday I go across the Emirates Air-Line cable car, have a tea, coffee or lunch somewhere and then return home by a different route.
Today with all the snow, was just too good to miss.
My route was to walk to Dalston Junction station and then get a train south to Shadwell. I then took the DLR from there to the cable car. I came back via Canary Wharf, where I had a cup of tea and the London Overground back to the start.
The only problem, was that visibility wasn’t that good, but it was what the cable-car is for. It must have felt pleased to be in the land of its birth; Austria.
What Is A Pastafarian?
The answer’s here!
It shows that the Austrians have a better sense of humour than I thought!
The Anonymous Widower 