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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 course to success of Siqens began with special methanol fuel cells. Then came the electrochemical hydrogen separation (EHS) in addition, based on the self-developed HT-PEM-FC stacks. With their help, hydrogen can be separated from natural gas or waste gases from industry and waste incineration with a high degree of purity. The manufacturer also sees EHS in combination with its own fuel cells as a solution to the last mile problem.
In the year 1999, Christian Machens developed the world's first fuel cell boat, the Hydra, and thereby laid the foundation for innovations that will extend far into the future. Now, 25 years later, he is once again setting standards in the technology landscape – this time with a world first that has the potential to fundamentally change the safety analysis of systems.
Extremely high demands are placed on tools for punching, stamping and forming sheet metals. In some cases, accuracies of between 1 µm and 2 µm are required during manufacturing. The level of challenge increases drastically the larger the tool and the thinner the sheet. The stamping plates for the sheet-metal parts in fuel cell bipolar plates are a prime example. Bipolar plates are thin structures made from welded sheet-metal half shells that enclose the filigree flow fields. They are built up one after another in many layers, with the membrane electrode assemblies sandwiched in between, to produce the final stack.
Where East Germany’s famous Trabant cars were once made, H2 trucks will now exit cleanly from the production hall. This technological shift from two-stroke engines to fuel cell trucks won’t just benefit automotive service provider FES. Michael Kretschmer, minister president of the German state of Sachsen who witnessed the milestone on July 22, 2024, hopes the region as a whole will reap the rewards.
The Norwegian company REC Solar once produced photovoltaic systems in Narvik. Today, the factory buildings stand empty. With two areas of around 5,000 square meters and cleanroom equipment, they offer good conditions for setting up fuel cell production there. The startup Teco 2030 plans to manufacture PEM fuel cells with a high power density on a gigawatt scale there in just a few years’ time.
Originally at the end of 2023, an “emissions-free taxonomy natural gas power plant” was to go into operation in Lübesse, a municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. But as with so many projects, there have been delays: One project partner went bankrupt, and not least the price increases of recent years have necessitated rescheduling. But despite all the adversity, the responsible parties have stuck with it and are now targeting 2025/2026 for the start of production.
“Today is a good day for industry location Germany, climate protection and sustainable jobs in our country” – German economy and climate protection minister Robert Habeck was referring to the first bidding process for carbon contracts for difference, which the German government launched in mid-March...
As of January 2024, the DWV has a slightly shorter name. Instead of being called the German hydrogen and fuel cell association (Deutscher Wasserstoff- und Brennstoffzellen-Verband e.V.) it will – once again – be known as the German hydrogen association (Deutscher Wasserstoff-Verband (DWV) e.V.). The...
New board, new members and a new structure – that’s the news in the latest press release from the Clean Energy Partnership, otherwise known as CEP. Jörg Starr from GP Joule remains on the board and will be assisted from now on by Elena Hof of Jet H2 Energy and Paul Karzel of Lifte H2. In addition to...
The Plug share price fell quickly to under 3 USD (2.50 USD at low) and then rose again to over 4 USD. At a price of less than 3 USD, it was possible to build up excellent trading positions (see H2-international Feb. 2024). Is there now a turnaround in the price trend or was this just a brief flare...
The press conference in February 2024 on the fourth quarter results and the entire year 2023 and, above all, the outlook for the current fiscal year support my very optimistic assessment of this start-up. Of the 42 built Tre FCEVs, 35 were delivered in the fourth quarter. Seven are currently being...
Hyzon Motors will start production of 200‑kW modules for commercial vehicles in the USA in the second half of 2024. This should then lead to a recovery of the strongly depressed share price via incoming orders. Parallel to this are running product presentations such as the recent one in Melbourne...
FuelCell Energy has with SOFC fuel cell power plants built its own capacities for clean energy totaling 62.8 MW (previous year: 43.7 MW). The company's own high-temperature fuel cell serves as the basis for use in electrolysis, where the company has recognized great potential for itself. Along with...
Startup company water stuff & sun has developed a novel technology that is designed to provide a safe and easy way to store hydrogen. The solution’s key component is its microvalve system. A pressure regulator controls the release of hydrogen progressively from 1,000 bar down to just a few bar. H2-international spoke to Thomas Korn, CEO of water stuff & sun, about how it works and the challenges encountered.
Year 2022 saw fuel cell shipments creep up over 2021 numbers, though the latter was a remarkable year. When 2021 exceeded 2020’s MW numbers by over 70%, we thought we were finally seeing the uptick that had been anticipated – the classic “hockey stick” pattern. But the structure of the industry – and its reliance on only a few players for the majority of shipments – means that growth comes in spurts.
Feathers from chickens or other poultry could in the future help make fuel cells more effective and cheaper as a material for membranes. Researchers at ETH Zürich and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have extracted the natural protein keratin from waste feathers, which as a...
The aspiration of Landesmesse Stuttgart with Hy-Fcell is to host an international industry feature. This was also the case in earlier years, when the symposium with accompanying exhibition called F-Cell was a meeting point for numerous well-known representatives of the hydrogen and fuel cell community. Now, however, there are other events that are far larger and much more international, while the Hy-Fcell in September 2023 exhibited mainly regional companies within Germany.
Hydrogeit Verlag is proudly celebrating its 20th anniversary as a renowned specialist publisher in the world of hydrogen and fuel cell technology. Founded in 2002, the journey began under the visionary leadership of mechanical engineer Sven Geitmann, who wrote a thesis on “Hydrogen as a fuel for...
BMV Energy GmbH is entering the market as another player in hydrogen refueling stations. The owner-managed, medium-sized company together with Score founded H2Now GmbH in August 2023 and appointed Stefan Schwarzer as managing director to advance the establishment of refueling stations with green...
The share price of Weichai Power has risen by almost 50 percent in the last few weeks. The reason is the partnership with BYD in the electrification of large vehicle fleets. A perfect joint venture, it seems. Weichai Power with BYD could – my guess – be pushing the door open to fuel cells, since...
Short sellers are working massively against the company at the stock exchange. There were shortly even nearly 200 million shares sold short (on Nov. 16 still 193 million). But now, a price change upwards seems very likely. The reason could lie in the comments made at the press conference on the...
The numbers for the third quarter and the outlook promise a very exciting future for Hyzon Motors and its 200‑kW FC modules for trucks. Series production will begin in the second half of 2024. The activities will be concentrated at one location in the USA. Hyzon with its subsidiary is withdrawing...
Here, I am cautious. The company, in my opinion, does not yet offer any convincing prospects, expressed in terms of expected growth, orders and sales through the use of its technology, which was also supported by the share price drop to 1 USD. From this very low level, the price has now turned...
