Hydrogen production in Kanton Schwyz

Ebs Energie, gas and electricity provider for the city of Schwyz and surroundings owns a run-of-the-river hydropower plant in the Muothal. Unfortunately, this plant, like many run-of-the-river power plants in the alps, produces electricity mainly in Summer, precisely when the consumption is the lowest and production of european solar panels is the highest. The electricity market is therefore saturated at that time of the year and the prices drop, making our hydropower plant unprofitable. To solve this problem, ebs Energie decided to use the plant, combined with an electrolyser, to produce hydrogen, which could be then used for mobility, injected in the gas grid or stored for the winter. Ebs Energie already partnered with Käppli AG regarding this matter.

The project is part of the DeCIRRA Innosuisse Flagship which brings together 36 research and implementation partners. The IET, together with HSLU will be supporting ebs Energie in the development of this forward-thinking project and focus on research-oriented questioning.

Study of the hydrogen heavy duty vehicles market

One of the considered possibilities to sell the produced hydrogen is the build of a hydrogen refuelling station in Schwyz, close to the highway. The IET conducted extensive research on heavy duty hydrogen vehicles market to estimate how the hydrogen mobility might evolve in the short- and long-term future, especially regarding the pressure ratings for the storage of hydrogen in trucks.

Injection of hydrogen in the existing gas grid

The produced hydrogen could also be injected in the existing natural gas grid, up to a proportion of 10%. This solution was also studied by the IET thanks to the data provided by ebs Energie.

High-voltage transmission line and economical study

Since the electrolyser cannot be build at the site of the hydro powerplant, a transmission line would need to be erected to connect them. The IET was charged to determine the most cost-effective solution between building a new line or paying fees for the use of the national grid. For this purpose, an understanding of the current laws, as well as their possible changes in the next years had to be acquired.