Scientists at the Technical University of Munich and University of Mannheim have now worked out how to produce gas, for use as a coolant in power stations or in fuel cells for cars, for example, cleanly and profitably: using wind power. However, with regard to the market situation in Germany, this necessitates two things: First, facilities capable of both feeding power into the grid and producing hydrogen need to be used. Second, the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) needs to be changed, since the researchers say that the price currently granted by the government for the generation of renewable energy should instead be paid out for feeding renewable energy into the grid. For medium and small-scale manufacturing, this would make hydrogen production already profitable now.

Basic power-to-gas technology appears to be gaining ground. Munich start-up Electrochaea , for example, recently announced its partnership with gas storage operator Storengy. The partners aim to become a leading supplier of power-to-gas services. Meanwhile, German business newspaper ‘Handelsblatt’ has reported that transmission system operators TenneT and Amprion are both in the process of designing power-to-gas facilities.