Chancellor Scholz visits Hessen - focus on energy

On August 9, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Industriepark Höchst in Frankfurt am Main to catch up on the latest developments in hydrogen technology. During the tour around the 4.6-square-kilometer industrial park, Joachim Kreysing, CEO of the site operator Infraserv Höchst, presented the chancellor the first hydrogen refueling station for passenger trains in Hessen. Starting in late 2022, the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) will operate the world's largest fleet of fuel-cell trains of 27 hydrogen-powered regional trains that will be refueled on site.

Another topic of discussion was the activities of Ineratec, which is currently building a power-to-liquid pilot plant at Industriepark Höchst. By 2023, the plant will produce up to 3,500 metric tons per year of a pre-product made from electricity, water and CO2. The intermediate can then replace fossil crude oil in a refinery and be further processed into end products, e.g. synthetic kerosene. The Competence Center for Climate and Noise Protection in Aviation (CENA Hessen) – a part of HTAI - , and the Hessian Ministry of Transport are supporting partners with a research project on authentic power supply. This means, the undertaking is conducted under real-life conditions and not only theoretically or in highly controlled environments. The aim of the project is to investigate how fluctuations in the power supply from renewable energies can be buffered through the production of the synthetic kerosene. A part of the planned pilot plant will be used for this purpose.

Later that day, Scholz headed north to Allendorf (Eder). He visited the heating and cooling technology company Viessmann to learn more about heat pumps as an example for renewable heating solutions. He explained the reason for his visit at Viessmann, saying that it is an important project of the German government to generate heat without fossil resources and thus protecting the climate. "I am very pleased that a company from Germany, which is globally successful, is showing how this can be done", the Chancellor stated after a two-hour tour of the plant. Scholz said he saw and learned a lot during the company tour, speaking of high-tech technology and enthusiastic and competent employees. "That's why it was so important for me to come here today."