Surplus renewable electricity is becoming one of Switzerland’s most awkward assets. On sunny, windy days, solar, wind and hydro power can exceed demand, and that surplus is increasingly traded at negative prices on the power exchanges — meaning it can cost money to produce electricity. Power-to-X offers a way out of that paradox: it turns surplus renewable power into hydrogen and hydrogen-based energy carriers that can be stored for weeks, traded across borders, and used when the grid needs them most.

That is exactly the logic behind a new cross-border initiative in the Bodensee-Alpenrhein region. On 17 June 2026, organisations and companies from Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Germany came together in Buchs (SG) to launch a transnational hydrogen ecosystem and the project that will drive it forward: the «H2-Lab: Wasserstoff-Ökosystem Bodensee-Alpenrhein».

Why hydrogen is the missing link

In a future energy system built on renewable sources, electricity’s share of final energy is expected to roughly double — from about a quarter today to around half. But electrons are hard to store across seasons. This is where sustainable hydrogen comes in: as a chemical energy carrier, hydrogen (H₂) — together with derivatives produced from it, such as methane and methanol — can store renewable energy in molecular form, complementing biogenic carriers like biomethane and wood.

These chemically stored, long-duration energy carriers relieve the electricity grid and diversify supply, which matters most in winter, when security of supply comes under pressure. They also turn an economic problem into an opportunity: instead of paying to offload surplus power, electricity producers can convert it into hydrogen, store it, and sell that energy when supply is scarce.

From hydrogen to a full Power-to-X value chain

Hydrogen is the molecule that makes Power-to-X possible. Combine renewable hydrogen with recycled CO₂ and you can synthesise the e-fuels and e-chemicals — eMethane, eMethanol and more — that help defossilise sectors where direct electrification is difficult, such as high-temperature industry and shipping. The Bodensee-Alpenrhein ecosystem is designed to build out the first, essential link in that chain: a reliable, cross-border supply of renewable hydrogen.

The H2-Lab project

Led by the IET Institute for Energy Technology at OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, H2-Lab brings together eleven project partners and seventeen associated partners–with SPIN and several of our members among them–from energy, logistics and shipping across four countries. It is funded by Interreg Alpenrhein-Bodensee-Hochrhein (ABH) of the European Union, the Gas Research Fund of the Swiss gas industry association, and all participating partners. Interreg supports cross-border cooperation at the EU’s internal and external borders, with EU funding complemented by national contributions from Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Two hydrogen production sites are already operating in the wider region — in the city of St. Gallen and the municipality of Domat/Ems — with more planned, including in Buchs.

Three cross-border thrusts

No functioning hydrogen ecosystem has established itself in the region yet — partly because the European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB) does not reach the area, partly because cross-border hydrogen trade still carries regulatory uncertainty, and partly because only a handful of applications are up and running. H2-Lab focuses on three thrusts to change that:

  • A cross-border hydrogen network. Concrete options are being assessed for connecting southern Germany, Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein and Eastern Switzerland, building on the existing gas grid, which can be repurposed and complemented with new H₂ pipelines. Germany’s hydrogen core network is set to reach Lindau by 2032; a southern extension into the Rhine Valley is not yet planned, making early coordination a strategic opportunity for the region.
  • Cross-border hydrogen trade. For hydrogen to flow across borders — by pipeline or trailer — both the molecule and its guarantees of origin, and therefore its renewability, must be tradable and recognised in the consuming country. Transparent information on supply and demand is essential, and can be exchanged via the MatcH2 platform.
  • Cross-border hydrogen applications. Beyond the heavy-duty transport already drawing on hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, further applications remain underdeveloped: high-temperature industrial processes, vehicle fleets, ships, peak-load coverage and construction machinery. Their real potential can only be unlocked through detailed studies, concrete project planning and demonstrations.

A strategic networking moment

The 17 June kick-off at OST in Buchs brought together around 25 partners from the four-country region to get acquainted, exchange ideas and develop joint projects, with high-level representation from cantonal, national and regional governments. An afternoon public event — the «Expertinnen- und Expertengespräche Power-to-X», organised by the VfA Buchs together with OST — presented existing hydrogen ecosystems elsewhere in Europe alongside the emerging Bodensee-Alpenrhein model, accompanied by an exhibition of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

In the afternoon, the Power-to-X expert meetings took place at the same place. Oliver Jochum, Klimapartner Südbaden e.V., Freiburg (D), brought up an important point that also concerns us at SPIN: “We need planning security. Because this does not exist, some projects have already failed.”

The SPIN perspective

From a Power-to-X standpoint, the most important part of this story is not any single vehicle or pipeline — it is the system logic. Defossilising hard-to-abate sectors depends on converting renewable electricity into storable, transportable molecules, and on doing so at a scale and across borders that no single site or country can manage alone. A transnational ecosystem that aligns infrastructure, guarantees of origin and real applications is exactly the kind of groundwork the Swiss Power-to-X Collaborative Innovation Network sees as decisive.

One caveat worth keeping in view as these value chains grow: when renewable hydrogen is later combined with recycled CO₂ to make synthetic fuels and materials, the climate benefit only materialises when that recycled CO₂ displaces fossil carbon — not when it is used to justify burning more of it. Built on that principle, regional hydrogen ecosystems like the one taking shape around Lake Constance can become genuine accelerators of defossilisation.

Source: media information from OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences and the VfA Buchs SG. More on the project: www.h2-lab.org.

Power-to-X Congress Switzerland 2026

Join us at the Power-to-X Congress Switzerland 2026 on 22 September 2026, 10:00–18:00, at the Kursaal Bern. Under the motto «Reality Check with Net Zero», the congress is co-organised by energie-cluster.ch and the Swiss Power-to-X Collaborative Innovation Network (SPIN), in partnership with Réseau H2 Suisse Romande. Register and find out more here.