DE
Gaseous or liquid hydrogen? It’s a dilemma facing everyone involved in the refueling of heavy-duty vehicles. It makes no difference to the power system whether the fuel is a gas or a liquid as the fuel cells can process the hydrogen regardless. In infrastructure terms, however, it’s another matter. The consensus among experts is that it’s not economically viable for fuel station operators to support every available technology in the long run. One alternative is cryogas, which is produced by cooling pressurized gas to extremely low temperatures or by directly compressing liquid hydrogen. Work is currently underway to deliver cryogas tank systems that will give a range of around 620 miles (1,000 kilometers), the CryoTRUCK project and the Salzburger Aluminium Group initiative being prime examples.
A positive result in a community poll has apparently cleared the way for cellcentric to press ahead with its plans to mass-produce fuel cells in the German town of Weilheim an der Teck. Cellcentric – a 50-50 joint venture by Daimler Truck and Volvo – is expected to start building its new factory in the course of the year. Preparations for the highly automated manufacturing facility have “already come a very long way,” H2-international was informed.In all, 70 percent of the 8,100 eligible voters living in the Swabian municipality of Weilheim an der Teck, which is situated to the southeast of Stuttgart, chose to support the official designation of the industrial park as the site of the factory. Participation was high with a 60.7-percent turnout. Winfried Kretschmann, minister president of Baden-Württemberg, had made particular efforts to encourage the new manufacturing facility. The Green-party politician was therefore suitably pleased with the result. He now anticipates this positive outcome will give the project a major boost, particularly as there was a large turnout.
The joint venture between ElringKlinger and Plastic Omnium has built up a production capacity of 10,000 stack units per year at the Dettingen site. According to chief finance officer Dr. Gernot Stellberger, the fuel cell manufacturer from Baden-Württemberg has a lead of about two years over the competition in the area of industrial stack design. The company is aiming for a sales revenue of up to one billion euros by the end of the decade. In addition to the commercial vehicle sector, there is great interest from the maritime and rail industry. In the joint venture Aerostack with Airbus, EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies GmbH is developing a stack for use in aviation.
According to European Union guidelines, carbon dioxide emissions from heavy-duty vehicles will need to be cut by 30 percent by the year 2030 in order to ensure emissions reductions are on track to meet the EU’s 2050 net-zero target. This would mean that around 200,000 emission-free trucks would have to be operating on Europe's roads by 2030. That’s the finding of a recent study carried out by the association of German engineers VDI and the testing and certification institute VDE entitled “Sustainable commercial vehicles – a comparison of different technology pathways for carbon-neutral and carbon-free propulsion.” It found marked advantages for the use of fuel cell power systems for long-distance transportation using large commercial vehicles while battery-electric powertrains were seen as clearly beneficial for small commercial vehicles.
The two-part trade fair concept was particularly well received by exhibitors. In addition to the halls at the fairgrounds, the Munich city center was also used as an exhibition area. Especially suppliers in the area of fuel cell drives had new things to present. They recognize the high market potential and feel that the technology will penetrate the passenger car sector through the commercial vehicle sector.
