Six new hydrogen filling stations, the unveiling of the Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL, and test drives with the Hyundai NEXO and the Toyota MIRAI are just some of the many highlights that await visitors to the joint stand of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP), H2 MOBILITY and NOW National Organisation for Hydrogen and fuel cell Technology (Hall 27, B59). For more news, please also visit the press conference on 23 April at 11:00 at the Public Forum of the Group Exhibit Hydrogen + Fuel Cells + Batteries in Hall 27, B66.
Berlin, 04 April 2018 – The same handling, same speed, and same range as conventional vehicles – but with no noise or local CO2 emissions: these are the success factors of hydrogen mobility. Ensuring that they can prevail in the market requires a nationwide infrastructure, cross-industry collaboration between industrial partners, and resolute government support.
CEP, H2 MOBILITY and NOW, three major protagonists of the hydrogen scene, will jointly present news from the industry at this year’s Hannover Messe (Hanover Fair). The automotive partners Daimler, Hyundai and Toyota will show their fuel-cell vehicles. The Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL, which is to be handed over to the first customers in Germany this year, will be on view at the exhibition stand. Outside of Hall 27, Hyundai’s second fuel cell vehicle, the Hyundai NEXO (available from summer 2018), and the Toyota MIRAI, which has been on German roads since 2015, will be available for test drives.
At the press conference on Monday, 23 April, at 11:00, the three exhibitors will provide information about the latest developments and projects. On Tuesday, 24 April from 14:00 to 14:40, a panel discussion on the topic of “Cross-sector development of hydrogen mobility” with representatives from the partner companies will be held at the Public Forum of the Hydrogen + Fuel Cells + Batteries Group Exhibit in Hall 27.
“Hydrogen mobility will contribute to a successful energy transition – we can already see that it works on Germany’s roads today”, says Thomas Bystry, Chairman of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP). “However, we can only activate the market if everyone involved pulls together, and if we make optimum use of resources and synergies through cross-company and cross-sector collaboration.” The industrial coalition marked the beginning of the energy transition with hydrogen. Since 2002, various companies united in a public-private partnership supported by the German government (represented by NOW GmbH), have demonstrated hydrogen’s suitability for everyday use and its system capability as a fuel, and introduced important standards. After the expiry of NIP 1 at the end of 2016, the partners decided to enter Phase IV of the project as a purely industrial partnership, and to concentrate their efforts on developing the technology, products, business, and market. Sustainable hydrogen production is also a topic for the CEP, as using ‘green’ hydrogen allows for reducing CO2 emissions to an absolute minimum.
Because a nationwide network of filling stations is a prerequisite for the success of fuel-cell vehicles, six CEP members – Air Liquide, Daimler, Linde, OMV, Shell and TOTAL – founded the joint venture H2 MOBILITY. It is building the hydrogen infrastructure to supply fuel-cell cars. Their first goal, by 2019, is to operate 100 stations in the metropolitan areas of Hamburg, Berlin, Rhine-Ruhr, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, and Munich, as well as along main roads and motorways. H2 MOBILITY handles all the operational tasks, including network planning, permitting, procurement, construction, and operation. Nikolas Iwan, Managing Director of H2 MOBILITY, says: “The hydrogen mobility transition is gathering speed. In the last two years alone, the number of public filling stations for fuel-cell cars has doubled. Today, the public can refuel their hydrogen vehicles at 43 stations; 37 more are currently being planned or under construction. At the opening press conference of the H2 & BZ Group Exhibition in Hall 27, we will announce another seven locations.”
“We are pleased that development is not limited to the H2 car industry; there is also a lot of activity in rail and public transport,” says Dr Klaus Bonhoff, Managing Director of NOW National Organisation for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology, which coordinates the implementation of the National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP) on behalf of the German government. “Several public transport companies in Germany ordered a total of more than 60 fuel cell buses last year. Two prototypes of the Coradia iLint fuel-cell train are currently at the permitting stage. By 2021, fourteen of these trains are to be deployed on the Cuxhaven – Bremerhaven – Bremervörde – Buxtehude line.” NIP 2 supports research and development projects as well as market activation, and fosters networking between international players.