New Energies, new possibilities

［ローマ　１６日　ロイター］ - 欧米自動車大手ステランティスは１６日、水素燃料電池（ＦＣ）技術の開発計画を中止すると発表した。年内に予定していたＦＣ搭載の商用車の発売も取りやめる。 決定の理由として水素充填インフラの不足、高い資本要件、顧客向けの購入インセンティブを強化する必要性を挙げた。 欧州全域担当の最高執行責任者（ＣＯＯ）を務めるジャン・フィリップ・インパラート氏は「水素はニッチ市場にとどまっており、中期的に見て経済的に持続する見通しが立たない」と説明した。 フランスの自動車部品サプライヤー、ミシュランとフォルビアは、この決定に驚いたとし、２０２３年にステランティスが出資したＦＣを手がける合弁会社シンビオに「運営および財務上の深刻な影響」をもたらすと指摘した。 フォルビアによると、ステランティスはシンビオの主要顧客で同社取引の８０％近くを占めているという。 ミシュランは声明で「当社の最大の懸念は、この決定がシンビオの国内外の従業員に与える影響だ」と述べた。 ウェブサイトによると、シンビオは従業員６５０人余りを抱える。２３年にフランス東部にギガファクトリーと、米カリフォルニア州に新拠点を開設した。 ステランティスは、シンビオ株主との協議を開始し、現在の市場への影響を検証するとともに、同社の最善の利益を守るためにそれぞれの義務に沿った対応を進めていると表明した。 ステランティスはＦＣ搭載の商用車を２０２０年代末までに採用することは想定していないと説明。この決定は同社生産拠点の従業員に影響を与えることはなく、水素技術に関する研究開発活動は他のプロジェクトに振り向けると付け加えた。

ステランティス、水素燃料電池の開発中止　商用車年内投入も見送り（ロイター） - Yahoo!ニュース

ZeroAvia and Horizon Aircraft, an advanced aerospace engineering company and developer of one of the world’s first hybrid eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft – today announced plans to work together on developing regional hydrogen-electric VTOL air travel.  

Together, the companies will cooperate on exploring ZeroAvia’s ZA600 hydrogen-electric powertrain for Horizon Aircraft’s Cavorite X7 eVTOL.    

The Cavorite X7’s unique fan-in-wing design incorporates 14 lift fans providing the thrust for vertical takeoff, with sliding panels which hide the fans as the aircraft transitions from hover to wing-borne flight and flies like a normal plane. 

For landing, it can use a normal runway, or the fans can be deployed to touchdown on a helipad, or an area the size of a tennis court. 

Horizon Aircraft has already performed untethered flight tests of a large-scale prototype, including demonstrating hover modes and transition to wing-borne flight. 

The company has received backing from the U.S. Department of Defense and approvals for flight testing from the Canadian regulator.  

Horizon Aircraft and ZeroAvia to explore hydrogen eVTOL propulsion - Vertical Mag

Envision Energy has secured voluntary ISCC Plus certification for its Chifeng plant and confirms the design would produce RFNBOs

Envision Energy has announced that, following the official commissioning of its 500MW green hydrogen and ammonia plant in Chifeng, China, it has secured voluntary ISCC Plus certification.

At this stage, the firm has obtained an RFNBO compliance report, which assesses whether a given project’s design aligns with the requirements set out by the EU in order for its products to be considered “renewable fuels of non-biological origin” (RFNBOs).

The EU mandates that 42% of industrial hydrogen and 1% of transport fuels must be RFNBOs by 2030.

Although member states have been slow to transpose this target into national legislation, this is still expected to drive demand for not just green H2, but molecules produced using renewable power according to the EU’s strict set of guidelines (see factbox), which are meant to prevent indirect emissions via increased demand on the grid.

Envision Energy has confirmed to Hydrogen Insight that full certification via the ISCC EU scheme — one of three officially recognised by the EU — would require data from the project’s operational phase.

However, the Chifeng plant is already likely to meet the EU’s criteria, given it is not directly connected to the Chinese grid but rather supplies its own power through a system of newly installed wind turbines and batteries.

The project currently produces 320,000 tonnes a year of NH3 from 500MW of alkaline and PEM electrolysers, which were self-supplied.

Envision Energy plans to begin exporting green ammonia produced at Chifeng to international markets in the fourth quarter of this year, with offtake already agreed with Japanese trading house Marubeni.

The firm also plans to further scale up the Chifeng project to 2.5GW of electrolyser capacity, or 1.5 million tonnes of annual ammonia production, by 2028, with an aim to reach cost parity with grey NH3 by this year.

Source:  Hydrogeninsight

• Shanghai Electric has reportedly produced its first batch of green hydrogen-based methanol at the 680MW Taonan plant in Jilin, marking a major milestone in China’s renewable fuel sector.
• The demonstration phase integrates wind power and biomass gasification, with a projected ramp-up to 50,000 tonnes this year and a full build-out to 250,000 tonnes per annum by 2027.

Shanghai Electric has officially launched production at the first phase of its Taonan green hydrogen-to-methanol plant in Jilin, northeast China, delivering the first barrels of green methanol on July 14. This milestone makes the Taonan facility the world’s first commercial-scale project integrating wind power and biomass gasification to produce green methanol. The plant is expected to yield 50,000 tonnes of green methanol in 2025, with future expansions to hit 250,000 tonnes of e-methanol and 10,000 tonnes of green aviation fuel annually.

The project’s first-phase infrastructure includes two 300 tonnes/day oxygen-blown biomass fluidized-bed gasifiers, 67.2MW of wind power capacity, an 8,200 Nm³/h hydrogen production unit, 100,000 Nm³ of hydrogen storage, and an e-methanol synthesis system—all designed and manufactured by Shanghai Electric. The integrated setup processes agricultural and forestry waste into syngas, combines it with wind-generated green hydrogen, and synthesizes methanol on-site—achieving a fully closed-loop production chain that meets ISCC-EU certification.

This pioneering project not only delivers local biomass valorization and renewable electricity utilization, but also fills a critical domestic technology gap, pushing China's renewable fuel innovation to internationally competitive levels. The methanol produced will be transported to Shanghai Port for downstream refueling applications, including the shipping and industrial sectors.

Shanghai Electric’s Taonan facility is one of several major hydrogen-based energy projects going live in China in July. At least four other large-scale green fuel projects have entered production, including the 1.1 million tonnes/year Da’an Green Ammonia project by State Power Investment Group (SPIC), due to start operations by the end of this month (see chart below), and the Envision Zero-Carbon Park in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, which began producing green ammonia on July 8.

Source:  Fuel Cells Works