Hydrogen power plants get backing from German firms

Bloomberg

Uniper SE and Siemens AG said they will develop a hydrogen business in an effort to slash fossil-fuel pollution from industrial processes.
Uniper’s Chief Executive Officer Andreas Schierenbeck said his utility will seek to gradually replace coal and natural gas with hydrogen at some of its power generation plants. It will also adapt its gas pipelines and storage sites to receive increasing quantities of the fuel that burns without releasing carbon dioxide.
“Siemens is also committed with hydrogen, so it makes perfect sense, this strategic partnership,” Schierenbeck said in a telephone interview. “It’s good timing, as we need to bring the new technology to the table in Germany.”
Traditionally a power generator using gas and coal, Uniper decided to invest 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in the next three years to reduce the emissions of its plants.
It set a goal to make its power generation portfolio in Europe climate-neutral by 2035, which is 15 years before the European Union’s target for the region.
Hydrogen has the energy to provide temperatures of 1,000 degrees Celsius or more needed by steel makers and oil refiners.