08 GLOBAL MARKET DEVELOPMENTS → UK
Originally expected to enter commercial operation in 2014 is the world’s largest renewable energy plant in the UK, using advanced gasification energy-from-waste (EfW) technology. The Tees Valley facility, built and operated by Air Products, is located at the New Energy and Technology Business Park, near Billingham, Teesside and will be the first of its kind in the UK – and the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. With an approximate capacity of 50MW, the plant is expected to produce enough reliable, controllable, and renewable electricity to power up to 50,000 homes. In Birmingham, one of three new high-capacity hydrogen filling stations is to be designed and installed by Air Liquide by 2014. The stations are part of the European project SWARM (Demonstration of Small 4-Wheel fuel cell passenger vehicle Applications in Regional and Municipal transport) with the aim of rolling out 90 hydrogen-fuelled passenger cars across Europe. The other two stations will be designed and installed in Germany and Belgium.
→ BELGIUM
Brussels will be home to one of three new high-capacity hydrogen filling stations to be designed and installed by Air Liquide by 2014. The stations are part of the European project SWARM (Demonstration of Small 4-Wheel fuel cell passenger vehicle Applications in Regional and Municipal transport) with the aim of rolling out 90 hydrogen-fuelled passenger cars across Europe. The other two stations will be designed and installed in UK and Germany.
→ GERMANY
An investment of €100m in a new hydrogen and carbon monoxide unit is scheduled to reach fruition in 2014, as part of a long-term contract between Air Liquide and Bayer MaterialScience. Based at the Chempark Dormagen site, one of the largest chemical parks in Europe, located near Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state-of-the-art unit will be designed and built by Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions teams and is scheduled for commissioning this year. The gases will be used for the manufacture of polymers, required to produce the polyurethanes used in the production of high-resilience foam seating, durable elastomeric wheels, high performance adhesives, and more. Similarly to a fellow Tier One player in the US (see page 7), a changing of the guard also lies ahead in Munich, Germany this year, with Dr Wolfgang Büchele succeeding Prof. Dr Wolfgang Reitzle as the new CEO of Linde AG from 1st May 2014. The Supervisory Board of Linde AG announced the succession after a September (2013) meeting. Büchele becomes a member of the Executive Board and CEO following the annual general meeting on 20th May 2014, with Reitzle’s time at the helm coming to an end due to reaching the stipulated age limit. Bremen will be home to one of three new high-capacity hydrogen filling stations to be designed and installed by Air Liquide by 2014. The stations are part of the European project SWARM (Demonstration of Small 4-Wheel fuel cell passenger vehicle Applications in Regional and Municipal transport) with the aim of rolling out 90 hydrogen-fuelled passenger cars across Europe. The other two stations will be designed and installed in the UK and Belgium.
08 | gasworld Directory 2014
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