Under the funding call for industrial truck fleets with fuel cell drives from 18 September 2020, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) is making a total of 5 million euros available in funding.

This additional governmental support helps to create a cost advantage compared to conventional technology and thus to further dismantle market obstacles to fuel cell technology for industrial trucks and their associated refuelling infrastructure.

With an initial funding call last year, BMVI made over 3 million euros of funding available to successful intralogistics projects. The logistics industry is thus motivated to engage in additional fuel cell activities and sees this year’s 5 million euros funding volume as yet more motivation to tap into a larger market.

About the current funding call

The aim of the latest funding call is primarily the continued activation of the market for industrial trucks with fuel cells for trade and industry as well as airports, e.g. in forklifts and towing tractors. The emission-free technology can provide better environmental protection as well as increased productivity in the company. A condition for funding an associated hydrogen refuelling station is a minimum of ten industrial trucks or three kilogrammes of hydrogen consumption per operating hour. Those interested in the current funding call can submit their application as of now until 20 November 2020. The applicant must be the user of the technology. For smaller and medium-sized businesses, a bonus of between 10 to 20 per cent is being considered.

“When it comes to emission-free mobility and logistics, innovative networks like CIN play a key role for the entire sector and for Germany as a sustainable logistics location. Through the cooperation of leading global companies in CIN, we can pool our expertise and knowledge. In this way the technology can be introduced to potential users and other interested parties in a manufacturer-neutral manner. Furthermore we can advance the fuel cell even more robustly in this way along the entire value chain”, says Wolfgang Axthammer, Managing Director and Divisional Head of Special Markets at NOW GmbH and initiator of the CIN.

There are currently 13 companies in CIN acting as partners in driving forward the market activation and market development of fuel cells in the intralogistics segment. The partners represent the entire supply chain, from manufacturers of industrial trucks and fuel cells, suppliers of components and gas suppliers, to the users of the technology.

Comprehensive green package for future-oriented companies

As an efficient technology of the future, the fuel cell is playing a major role in intralogistics in particular. While in the US, already around 30,000 fuel cell-operated hydrogen industrial trucks managing entire production plants are operational, in Germany, the number is limited to under 300 industrial trucks. “Technologically-speaking, in Germany and in Europe we are already well positioned in terms of global competition”, declares Axthammer. Now the time has come to manifest this with the appropriate number in our own domestic market. The associated reduction of system costs increases the competitiveness of German industry and secures jobs in Germany in a sustainable way. The advantages of fuel cells as opposed to battery operation are their short refuelling time of only 3 minutes, greater availability and the elimination of costly electricity peaks on site. A high availability capacity guarantees particularly energy-consuming uses, for example in distribution warehouses. Also in terms of harmful residues, safe handling and demand for space at the location of use, fuel cells are far ahead and therefore represent the most attractive overall green package for future-oriented companies.

About Clean Intralogistics Net (CIN)
Clean Intralogistics Net was established in 2016 by eight companies in order to sustainably promote the use of fuel cell technology in logistics. NOW GmbH is the initiator of the network. Today there are 13 partners in CIN operating on the global market. The VDMA Materials Handling and Logistics is an associated partner.

More information: www.cleanintralogistics.net