Best Practice

Ballard has introduced its new FCmove-SC fuel cell module, purpose-built for city buses. The module is designed to bring the operating costs of fuel cell drives closer to those of diesel engines. The focus is on technical improvements and streamlined integration.

The Swiss company Infener wants to promote hydrogen throughout Europe. Decentralized H₂ hubs will be used to generate green electricity as well as green heat. The Ecore One is a compact containerized solution that combines various energy technologies in one unit: electrolyzer, fuel cell and battery as well as compressor and a heat pump with its own energy management system or EMS. H₂ production is due to start 2027 at a site in the Black Forest, Germany. However, the needs of regional industry are already far greater today.

The German fuel cell manufacturer Proton Motor has announced the provisional end of its production activities at the end of 2024 if no new investor is found. Despite diligent efforts to save the Bavarian company, it announced in mid-September that the employees of the Puchheim branch would have...

The company HPS Home Power Solutions has unveiled a new generation of its seasonal energy storage system. The Picea 2 now uses lithium batteries, which makes installation in the home easier due to the lower weight. With twice the power, the appliance is also equipped for e-mobility and heat pumps.

The municipality of Bosbüll in North Frisia is expanding its district heating network. In the future, process heat from local hydrogen production will also be fed into the system. Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2025.

Green hydrogen is an important building block of the energy transition. With its help, regenerative energy can be stored and used as needed in a wide variety of sectors. But how will the generation, storage, distribution and use of hydrogen come together? An answer to this question is the goal of the project H₂VL of the regional district (Landkreis) Havelland: Various local players along the entire hydrogen value chain are being identified, networked and supported in the implementation of their projects – from production through distribution to use. For this, Havelland is being supported by the German transport ministry, through the hydrogen and fuel cell innovation support program NIP2, with nearly 400,000 euros as one of the 15 winners of the title HyExpert Region.

The production of green hydrogen is reliant upon electrolyzers being fed solar- and wind-generated electricity. Since these energy sources are fluctuating, and therefore not always available, a different approach and control mechanism is required compared with conventional power plants. At the RefLau model power plant in the area of Lusatia, work is underway as part of a grant project to analyze, initially on a small scale, how Germany’s energy supply could be controlled in the future.

Abo Energy and Hydropulse, a subsidiary of ITM Power, have entered into a strategic partnership. The aim is to establish decentralized hydrogen production plants in Europe – particularly in Spain and Finland.

Together with Air Liquide, Limak Cement Group has successfully tested the first hydrogen-blended fuel supply for cement production in Ankara, Turkey. H2-international conducted an interview with Erkam Kocakerim, CEO of Limak Cement Global.

Green hydrogen is the future of the German steel industry, which is currently facing major pressure to change due to the challenges of climate protection and increasing international competition. Through H2-aided steel production by direct reduction (DR), on the one hand, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the steel sector can virtually be avoided and, on the other, the industry of Germany can once again demonstrate its strength in innovation. With this in view, energy consultancy Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik (LBST) is busy preparing a new analysis in the form of a metastudy on behalf of the German hydrogen and fuel cell association (Deutscher Wasserstoff- und Brennstoffzellen-Verband, DWV) in cooperation with DWV’s special advisory group HySteel on the role of green hydrogen in the steel industry.

In emerging and developing countries, but also in crisis areas, there are many opportunities to use hydrogen to overcome energy poverty and establish a reliable, CO₂-neutral power supply. In this context, hydrogen-based microgrids have a decisive role to play. In this form, hydrogen-producing electrolyzers, cylinder racks for hydrogen storage and fuel cell systems for reconversion into electricity can be accommodated in the space of a shipping container. Together, they help to conserve renewable energy for later use.

An important but often neglected area of application for H₂ technology is the uninterrupted supply of power. To prevent flickering lights and even more so blackouts, so-termed UPS (uninterruptible power supply) systems are indispensable. In the best-case scenario, when the network is stable, they will not be used, but their presence is nevertheless of central importance. H2-international spoke about this to Benedikt Eska and Christian Leu, the managing directors of Axiosus Energy GmbH, as well as about the company itself and the technology platform Clean Power Net (CPN).