May 2004

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Heard in Hannover: Hydrogen and fuel cell power may come to an urban renewal project in Hamburg’s port area. Vattenfall, the big European energy group that in past decades expanded from a national utility in Sweden to a continental powerhouse, is thinking about including hydrogen and fuel cell energy systems in an elaborate urban makeover of that section of the city. As part of the reorganization of four German companies Vattenfall bought in recent years, the company is considering the rebuilding of that section, home turf of one of its German acquisitions, the former Hamburg utility HEW, in a project analogous to the revival of London’s docklands. And a component of what’s only a dry-run exercise so far is the notion to include a hydrogen- and fuel cell-based energy infrastructure, possibly including transportation such as buses. Nothing has been decided as yet. Stay tuned.