On 11 December 2024, District Administrator Thomas Will and the Riedwerke Executive Board presented their new fuel cell vehicles at the bus depot in Groß-Gerau.
The provision of transport services using alternative drive systems plays an important role in achieving the climate targets in the district of Groß-Gerau. With this in mind, the subsidiaries of the Zweckverband Riedwerke Kreis Groß-Gerau (Riedwerke special purpose association of the district of Groß-Gerau) are planning to continuously convert their vehicle fleets to emission-free drive systems. ‘With the commissioning of a fuel cell waste collection vehicle and fifteen fuel cell solo buses this year, and eight more fuel cell articulated buses next year, we are on the right track for the transformation to the widespread use of environmentally friendly technologies,’ says District Administrator Thomas Will, Chairman of the Zweckverband Riedwerke Kreis Groß-Gerau. In this context, District Administrator Will extends his thanks to the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV – Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr) for enabling both the Abfall-Wirtschafts-Service GmbH (AWS) project in the field of waste management and the Local Public Transport Company mbH Kreis Groß-Gerau (LNVG) project in local public transport through its funding support.
The National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NOW) emphasises the importance of zero-emission technologies in an integrated energy system of the future. The strategic approach of the Riedwerke special-purpose association to use fuel cell technology in an interdisciplinary manner is supported by both projects, on the one hand, within the framework of the ‘Guideline for the funding of alternative drives for buses in passenger transport’ with 7.39 million euros, and on the other hand, through the ‘NIP II – Market activation: Procurement of a waste collection vehicle with alternative drives’ programme, with 0.67 million euros in funding from the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV). Funding for this measure is also provided under the German Recovery and Resilience Plan (DARP – Deutscher Aufbau- und Resilienzplan) through the European Recovery and Resilience Facilities (ARF – Europäische Aufbau- und Resilienzfazilitäten) under the NextGenerationEU programme. The funding guideline is coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by the project management organisation Jülich (PtJ).
Stefan Metzger, Managing Director of AWS and Chairman of the Board of Riedwerke, highlights the importance of the funding, which is what makes it possible to cover the higher acquisition costs of fuel cell vehicles. In total, the investment costs for the environmentally friendly vehicles of the AWS subsidiaries amount to 0.98 million euros and those of the LNVG to 17.22 million euros. The Bluepower refuse collection vehicle from Zoeller is in use throughout the district.
The use of fuel cell buses for local public transport is based on a study by EMCEL GmbH. “This study analysed the operational processes in the transport area within the LNVG’s area of responsibility and, in comparison with other zero-emission drive systems, fuel cell technology was considered preferable from a technical and economic point of view”, explains Christian Sommer, Managing Director of LNVG and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Riedwerke. In addition to the fast refuelling time, an important aspect is the range of the fuel cell buses, which is comparable to that of the diesel vehicles currently in use. With a guaranteed range of 350 kilometres per tank of fuel, most daily vehicle trips can be reliably ensured.
“The operation of these vehicles is made possible by a hydrogen supply contract between Riedwerke Versorgungs GmbH (RVG) and Air Liquide,” says Hendrik Frey, Managing Director of RVG and a Member of the Board of Riedwerke. The buses are filled with hydrogen at the Groß-Gerau bus depot using a mobile filling station from Wystrach/HEXAGON Purus, which is also receiving funding support from the federal government. This mobile refuelling system, owned by the project partner Hy2Serv GmbH, will ensure refuelling until the company’s own stationary refuelling system is put into operation. For redundancy reasons, a so-called mechanical dispenser has also been ordered from HEXAGON, which maintains the possibility of refuelling when the actual refuelling system is not available for maintenance reasons.
The LNVG is planning to purchase further fuel cell buses in the coming years, thereby implementing the European requirements of the ‘Clean Vehicles Directive (CVD)’. Further funding is essential for this.
Image: From left to right: Alan Przylebski, Hendrik Frey, Stefan Metzger, Christian Sommer, Thomas Will and Adil Oyan
Image credits: District of Groß-Gerau