8 October 2014
DETAILS
* Daimler/Linde joint initiative enters implementation phase
* 13 new refuelling locations by the end of 2015
* Sustainable sourcing of hydrogen (H2) secured
* Supported by the German National Innovation Programme (NIP)
Automobile manufacturer Daimler and
gases and engineering company The Linde Group
will team up with
oil and gas companies TOTAL, OMV, Avia and Hoyer this year
to significantly increase the number of hydrogen fuelling stations
in Germany.
To this end, the two companies are investing
around EUR 10 million in ten fuelling stations each.
On 29 September, the first of
the Daimler- and Linde-initiated public fuelling stations
for fuel-cell vehicles was officially opened
at a TOTAL multi-energy fuelling station
on Jafféstrasse in Berlin-Charlottenburg
The following locations have been earmarked
for additional stations by the end of 2015:
-
TOTAL:
-
Geiselwind, Bavaria, on the A3
-
Fellbach, Stuttgart region
-
Ulm
-
Karlsruhe
-
Neuruppin, Brandenburg, on the A24
-
Cologne-Bonn Airport
-
Berlin city centre (upgrade of the existing fuelling station at Holzmarktstrasse)
-
-
OMV:
-
Greater Munich area
-
Greater Nurember area
-
Greater Stuttgart area
-
-
AVIA:
-
Stuttgart-East
-
-
Hoyer:
-
Leipzig, in the vicinity of the A14
-
Background
From 2017, Daimler AG plans to bring
mass-produced competitively priced fuel-cell electric vehicles
to market.
To speed up technology optimisation and minimise
investment costs, the company formed an alliance with
Ford and Nissan at the start of 2013
for the joint development of a drive concept.
Experts reckon that in 2018,
well over ten thousand fuel-cell vehicles
will populate European roads.
Linde already secures half of the hydrogen
for existing CEP fuelling stations from “green” sources,
and it will power the 20 new stations with
fully regenerative hydrogen.
The gas is obtained from
* crude glycerol –
a by-product of biodiesel production –
at a dedicated pilot plant at Linde’s gases centre in Leuna.
The certified green hydrogen obtained in this way
produces far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than
conventional methods.
Linde also has other sustainable sources at its disposal like
* bio natural gas and
* water electrolysis using wind-generated electricity,
as part of the ‘H2BER’ project for example.
By the end of 2015, the number of H2 fuelling stations
supporting this growing fleet in Germany is set
to reach 50 with the support of
the Federal Ministry for Transport along
with partner companies and organisations
(see http://www.now-gmbh.de/en/presse-aktuelles
/2014/50-h2-refuelling-stations.html).
Furthermore, the ‘H2 Mobility’ initiative,
which Daimler, Linde, TOTAL and OMV
are also part of, agreed last year
on a detailed plan of action to expand the network to
around 400 stations by 2023.
WWW.CHEMWINFO.COM BY KHUN PHICHAI
