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HH2E files for insolvency

HH2E files for insolvency

Big plans and professional marketing – HH2E’s appearance was downright impressive, but on November 8, 2024, the Hamburg-based start-up filed for insolvency on its own initiative. The reason for this was probably that the British majority shareholder Foresight Group did not want to finance the planned large-scale H2 project in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern after all.

Plans included the construction of electrolyzers near Leipzig and in Lubmin. On the Baltic Sea, there was talk of building a 100-MW plant (1,000 MW by 2030) on the site of the former nuclear power plant and investing over €45 million. Although the planning for this is continuing for the time being, there is currently no investor, according to the latest reports.

HH2E CEO Alexander Voigt told Mitteldeutsche Zeitung: “We remain committed to maintaining continuity and stability in our operations while we work on a long-term solution. I am convinced that we will soon find a strategic partner who shares our passion for green energy and can support the vision of HH2E AG.” Voigt founded the solar company Solon in 1996 and is considered a pioneer in renewable energy.

The planned HH2E project Thierbach near Borna in Sachsen, which is to include a further 100-MW electrolyzer on the site of the demolished lignite-fired power plant, is initially only indirectly affected as HH2E-Thierbach-GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hamburg company founded in 2021, but remains solvent itself. As part of this Net Zero LEJ project, Leipzig/Halle Airport is to be supplied with green fuel together with DHL.

Götz Ahmelmann, Director of Leipzig/Halle Airport, explained: “As a company, we are convinced of the environmental and economic importance of the industrial production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).” In his opinion, however, the conditions for the production of sustainable aviation fuels on an industrial scale “remain excellent.” “With strong partners and extensive areas, supported by an important customer such as DHL, which is committed to climate-neutral flying, we are ideally positioned.”

In insolvency proceedings instigated on the company’s own initiative, the company management can continue to run the business if there are justified hopes of being able to restructure the company. A trustee appointed by the court monitors the process. There is justified hope that the insolvency will enable the company to shed previous constraints and gain more room for maneuver through new collaborations.

No doubts about the core network

No doubts about the core network

Gas network operators continue to count on political support

In October 2024, the German Federal Network Agency approved the plans for the hydrogen core network. Hydrogen is expected to flow through some sections as early as 2025. Despite turbulent times, the network operators remain confident about the new infrastructure.

The approval of the H2 core network should create planning security for storage and network operators as well as hydrogen users. This was stated by the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck on October 22, 2024.

Just 15 days later, the Ampel Coalition leading the federal government collapsed. The word “planning security” seemed like a bad joke. In the meantime, some things are falling into place and even some important legislative amendments could still make it through the German Parliament.

No time for worries
The prospective operators of the H2 core network are largely unfazed by the fuss. They are optimistic that they will continue to receive political support. This is certainly partly due to the fact that the advanced status of the project leaves no time for doubt. The first hydrogen pipelines are due to go into operation as early as 2025. And conversely, every meter of hydrogen pipeline built increases the pressure on politicians to continue.

In addition, the hearing on the Hydrogen Acceleration Act showed that almost all parties support hydrogen as a raw material – with the exception of the AfD. “The current political situation has no influence on these decisions,” says Sebastian Luther from Corporate Communications at Ontras Gastransport, which is already working on the conversion of a pipeline route. “I don’t expect the situation for the hydrogen core network to deteriorate if there is a change of government. It might even get better with a CDU-led government,” says an employee of another grid company. He hopes that the pipeline negotiations with Norway might even be resumed.

And the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) summarizes: “The implementation of the hydrogen core network is now underway. The application has been approved and the companies can start implementing it.”

Key data
The H2 core grid is to gradually go into operation by 2032 and have a feed-in capacity of 101 GW. The variant approved by the Federal Network Agency in October is slightly smaller than the application: 9,040 instead of 9,666 km of lines, 18.9 instead of 19.8 billion euros.

Hydrogen for refinery
Three network operators who want to complete the first sections as early as 2025 are Ontras Gastransport, Gascade and the consortium around the GET H2 Nukleus. Ontras plans to connect the Total Energies refinery in central Germany first. “We continue to assume that we will connect the customer in the real-world laboratory for the energy transition Energiepark Bad Lauchstädt to the emerging hydrogen core network as planned in 2025 – making it the first in the country,” says Ontras.

According to the press release, the entire supply chain has already been contractually agreed. The ground-breaking ceremony for the 25‑km section from Bad Lauchstädt to Leuna took place in summer 2023, followed by the installation of the pig lock a few months later (Fig. 1). The section is part of the Bad Lauchstädt Energy Park, which is being funded by the BMWK as a real-world laboratory for the energy transition. In the pilot project, the gas network operator wants to gain experience that will save time and work when converting other gas pipelines, explains Gunar Schmidt, Ontras Managing Director of Operations and Safety. As part of the H2 core network, Ontras intends to create a total of around 600 km of hydrogen transport pipelines in central Germany.

From the Baltic Sea to Sachsen-Anhalt
Gascade Gastransport is also in the starting blocks. “We have been working on the planning for the implementation of the H2 transportation projects for some time. Now we can actually get started – with conversions of current natural gas pipelines and new construction projects,” said Managing Director Christoph von dem Bussche in October. Gascade primarily wants to build import pipelines in the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions. The first pipeline project entitled “Flow – making hydrogen happen” should be able to transport large quantities of hydrogen from Lubmin on the Baltic coast to Bobbau, a district of Bitterfeld-Wolfen in Sachsen-Anhalt, by 2025.

The Lubmin-based electrolyzer operator HH2E, of all companies, has just made headlines with its insolvency (see p. 7). However, this does not affect the pipeline project, as Gascade explains. On the one hand, the company is hoping for a new investor and, on the other, there are other producers who want to feed into the pipeline.

Pipelines in the Baltic Sea region and southwest Europe are to follow in subsequent years, as well as the AquaDuctus offshore pipeline, which will bring hydrogen from a North Sea wind farm with a capacity of 1 GW to land.

Hydrogen in the West
Construction work on the first core network section, the GET H2 Nukleus project, is also underway in the Ruhr region. The overall system with many partners involved is scheduled to go into operation as early as mid-2025. It includes a large electrolyzer (RWE), a conversion of existing pipelines (Nowega and OGE) and a partially new pipeline route (Nowega, Evonik). Construction of several pipelines has already begun in 2023.

Investment security required
A grid operator would secure the construction of a normal new pipeline with watertight contracts with customers. However, for a complete grid for a new energy source, the sums involved and the uncertainties are too great. Many grid operators say that the H2 core grid is a historic task for them. Even for large corporations, the investments are at least very unusual, if not unique.

And so, despite being financed by the private sector, state aid is still needed. In addition to the IPCEI projects (Important Projects of Common European Interest), which receive large subsidies from the federal and state governments with the explicit blessing of the EU’s state aid watchdogs, the assistance consists primarily of government backing for amortization via the grid fees. The Federal Network Agency is to set the standardized nationwide ramp-up grid fee at the start, so that the first customers are not deterred.

The high level of investment at the beginning and the delay in income has resulted in a financial gap. The federal government wants to bridge this gap with a so-called amortization account. Initially, money is to flow from this account to the network operators, and later back again – at least that is the plan of the Ampel Coalition. “Offsetting costs via the amortization account allows us to invest in the core network without having to have all the deals clear,” says Dr. Dirk Flandrich, Head of the “Flow – making hydrogen happen” program at Gascade.

The northern German grid operator Hamburger Energienetze, which wants to supply several industrial companies in the port area with hydrogen, has expressed similar views. The prospect of uniform grid fees now gives the grid operators financial security, they say.

So the foundations are there. However, neither the H2 ramp-up nor the core grid are in the bag. For the amortization account to fill up again as planned, the conditions must also be right for H2 producers, storage companies and consumers. They all have to come together to conclude long-term contracts.

And this in turn requires a stable political framework, both in Germany and in Europe. The expansion of renewable energies, the definition of green or low-carbon hydrogen and the EU’s gas package are just a few of the keywords. While the grid operators are working on their core grid construction sites, there are therefore also plenty of political construction sites for the German government and the EU. Tackling these will be the task of the new EU Commission and the future German government.

Author: Eva Augsten

Proton Motor lays off employees

Proton Motor lays off employees

The German fuel cell manufacturer Proton Motor has announced the provisional end of its production activities at the end of 2024 if no new investor is found. Despite diligent efforts to save the Bavarian company, it announced in mid-September that the employees of the Puchheim branch would have their employment contracts terminated at the end of the planned period in order to ensure an orderly winding down of business activities.

Proton Motor is part of the British company Proton Motor Power Systems PLC, whose Board of Directors came to the conclusion in November 2024 that “the orderly shutting down of the company” was the “most appropriate course of action.” Although alternative sources of funding were still being sought to keep the company in operation in 2025, no viable solution had been identified by the end of November. Proton Motor Power Systems shares have lost around 85 percent of their value in the space of a year.

At the end of August 2024, the main investor announced that it would be withdrawing from the financing by the end of 2024. Although outstanding customer orders would be fulfilled as far as possible, new contracts could only be concluded once financing and the future direction of the company had been clarified.

In the summer of 2024, Manfred Limbrunner, the Director of Communications, who has since been made redundant, announced that his company was planning to move to Fürstenfeldbruck by mid-2025, where a factory was to be built in which up to 5,000 fuel cell systems and 30,000 stacks could be produced automatically every year.

Enertrag opens office in Hamburg

Enertrag opens office in Hamburg

To strengthen its “role in the global hydrogen economy,” Enertrag, a developer and producer of renewable energies, opened its Hamburg office in fall 2024. At the new branch, Enertrag wants to contribute to the decarbonization of the logistics and shipping industry. And: “We want to supply not only the shipping industry, but also numerous other industries with green hydrogen,” announced CEO Gunar Hering in front of more than 80 invited guests at the official opening of the new premises. These occupy the top floor of the historic Laeiszhof, a magnificent, richly decorated clinker brick building in the center of the Hanseatic city.

As the center of wind energy in Germany, Hamburg will also be an important location for the hydrogen industry in the future. This is demonstrated by the construction work underway since last year for the 100-megawatt electrolyzer in Moorburg and for the Hanseatic city’s H2 industrial network (see H2-international, May 2024). The port therefore offers “ideal conditions to act as a hub for the import and export of hydrogen and its derivatives,” continued CEO Hering. In close cooperation with the shipping company F. Laeisz, the H2Global Foundation and other neighbors in the Laeiszhof, Enertrag wants to advance the infrastructure for the trade and use of green hydrogen.

Nikolaus Schües, CEO of the F. Laeisz Group, which operates its own ships for the transportation of ammonia, emphasized the importance of maritime logistics for the energy transition. The development of a sustainable and competitive energy supply can only succeed through cross-sector cooperation, he said, adding that “Shipping is an important link in this, not only as a transporter, but also as a user of hydrogen-based energy sources.” The traditional shipping company, which celebrated its 200th anniversary in spring 2024 and used to transport saltpeter, bananas and wheat, among other things, is focusing on green methanol and green ammonia for the future. And is planning to convert parts of its fleet to these energy sources.


CEO Gunar Hering with Finance Senator Andreas Dressel and ship owner Nikolaus W. Schües (from left)

Enertrag, in turn, takes care of the production and availability of hydrogen derivatives. The CEO of the company, which has more than 1,100 employees on four continents, refers to the many years of experience in the production of green hydrogen, for example at the Uckermark combined-cycle power plant, which Enertrag has been operating since 2011.

Hamburg’s Finance Senator Andreas Dressel was delighted by the arrival of the business in the city. In a greeting to the future neighbors, who reside just a short walk away from City Hall, he said: ”Our city offers good framework conditions and investment opportunities, especially in the area of large-scale hydrogen projects.” In this respect, he continued, Enertrag is an asset for Hamburg in terms of advancing the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy here and in Germany.

High-speed micro-milling of very hard steels for bipolar plates

High-speed micro-milling of very hard steels for bipolar plates

Insights into a rapidly developing technology

Extremely high demands are placed on tools for punching, stamping and forming sheet metals. In some cases, accuracies of between 1 µm and 2 µm are required during manufacturing. The level of challenge increases drastically the larger the tool and the thinner the sheet. The stamping plates for the sheet-metal parts in fuel cell bipolar plates are a prime example. Bipolar plates are thin structures made from welded sheet-metal half shells that enclose the filigree flow fields. They are built up one after another in many layers, with the membrane electrode assemblies sandwiched in between, to produce the final stack.

Bipolar plates for fuel cells that will be used in automotive applications commonly consist of stamped, punched sheet-metal half shells that are welded together to produce hollow pieces. The manufacture of suitable stamping and punching tools is a constraining factor given the current technology available. Thinner sheets would indeed reduce the weight of fuel cells. However, as the material becomes thinner, the die clearance becomes narrower and the geometry must be more accurate. The accuracies asked of stamping and punching tools and presses are therefore extremely demanding.

Interest is focused on the development of a suitable process chain for manufacturing stamping and punching tools for the production of sheet-metal parts. Key points are the demands on the steel for the tools, the computer aided design/manufacturing software (CAD/CAM software), the necessary micro-milling tools, the properties of the machine tool, the lubrication and cooling of the milling cutters as well as the metrological testing and documentation of quality.

Companies working in this area include, for example, Hufschmied, MHT, Röders, Open Mind, Voestalpine and Zeiss. Together they outlined the current state of development as part of a seminar with more than 50 attendees. The results presented at the event are not only relevant for those involved with bipolar plates, but also for other sectors such as micro-production, precision engineering, medical technology or aerospace.

Ultra-hard steel: Böhler K888 Matrix
The stamping tool must have an extremely high dimensional accuracy, excellent wear resistance and low adhesion tendency in order to economically produce the extremely fine structures present in bipolar plates. Another prerequisite is excellent machinability. This presumes a low proportion of primary carbides in a hard matrix structure (matrix steel). Furthermore, the carbides should only be very small and distributed evenly across the whole cross section since coarse examples can break up during cutting and may cause surface imperfections. This is why steel produced from powder metal is used.

The Böhler K888 Matrix was chosen which is a material with a maximum carbide proportion of less than 2 percent. This is supplied in an annealed condition with a Brinell hardness of under 280 HB and achieves a Rockwell hardness of 63 +1 HRC after hardening at temperatures between 1,070 °C and 1,120 °C. This material thus demonstrates excellent wear resistance even in comparison with high-carbide materials.

Machining trials by Hufschmied have shown that the material is still extremely workable and can achieve extremely high surface qualities. It also responds well to coating which in turn leads to an increased service life.

CAD/CAM software
A suitable numerical control (NC) program is essential for optimal component quality. To create these NC programs, Open Mind offers a CAD/CAM system called hyperMILL which meets all requirements. The software calculates the tool paths with utmost accuracy and thus provides NC data with the appropriate exactness. Nevertheless, several factors need to be borne in mind: To fully take into account the topology of the component in order to calculate the tool paths, geometric features such as sharp edges, recesses and the condition of the surface transitions must be analyzed and identified. This information is then fed into the calculations and roughly controls the point distribution in the tool path.

In addition, further optimization can be carried out, for instance the adaptation of the feed. This allows the milling tool to machine the component at a constant feed rate. The “soft overlap” option prevents visible transitions by using various milling tools or strategies and reduces the time spent on manual finishing to virtually zero.

It is also important to link geometrically identical structures within a component that are either automatically or manually identified or defined. The appropriate tool paths that were initially created for an individual area can then be transposed to the previously identified or manually defined positions and connected fully automatically using the transformation function. This removes the need for unnecessary movements. This process allows calculation times in the CAM system to be significantly reduced.

Milling machine requirements
The machining of dies for bipolar plates is characterized by high material hardness, small tools with diameters of well under 1 millimeter as well as stringent demands on surface quality and accuracies down to the 1-µm range. What is more, the small contours require long running times which presuppose a very high long-term thermal stability of the machine tool.

Röders machine tools set themselves apart thanks, among other things, to their frictionless direct drives, highly rigid roller guideways, frictionless weight compensation of the Z-axis, high-speed precision spindles and highly accurate tool measurement. A particular feature is the 32-kHz sampling frequency in all control loops which enables the rapid correction of even the smallest deviations. Another key element is the sophisticated temperature management system which keeps the medium that circulates through all the main machine components at a stable temperature to within ± 0.1 K. This allows tolerances to be reliably maintained in the lower micrometer range.


The Hufschmied tools from the Bumble-Bi series used to machine various sections of the demonstrator (50 mm x 40 mm) on the Röders system along with relevant machining times, Source: Röders/Hufschmied

Bumble-Bi micro-tools from Hufschmied
The task of machining stamping tools for bipolar plates presents milling tools with a particular challenge. This is due to the hardness of the material being cut and the long program running time which in some cases lasts well over 100 hours. What is more, the required accuracies allow only minimal wear. To meet this challenge, Hufschmied developed the specially designed Bumble-Bi series of micro-tools. These include high-feed milling cutters for roughing as well as torus cutters, ball cutters and flat ball cutters. The latter are a hybridized version of a torus cutter and a ball cutter. All tools receive a physical vapor deposition or PVD coating, creating extremely smooth surfaces which enable temperature to be well managed. The milling tools used to make the demonstrator are summarized in a table alongside their operating parameters.


The entire sleeve of the MHT medium distributor encloses the tool holder without touching it or rotating with it. Air and lubricant are fed underneath the spindle via the docking station.

Optimal lubrication with the MHT medium distributor
When it comes to cutting processes, the right combination of cooling, lubrication and chip removal from the working area is crucial. The MHT medium distributor enables efficiency while also saving on energy and cost. The key element is a conical sleeve, which is attached to the tool holder and is exchanged with it during a tool change, yet does not rotate with the milling cutter. The sleeve is docked underneath the spindle and from there supplies it with compressed air and lubricant.

Most of the cooling and cleaning work is performed by the compressed air that is sprayed out of the nozzles arranged in a ring on the lower edge of the sleeve. The powerful air jet immediately removes chips and their heat content from the milling cutter and the workpiece. The lubricant, made from carefully selected hydrocarbons, is fed through in extremely low quantities (2 to 10 milliliters an hour). This is sufficient to ensure optimal lubrication for cutting operations. Heat build-up when hard cutting is reduced by around 50 percent. Significant advantages are much longer lifespans for tools, increased cutting performance of the machine and improved workpiece surfaces.

Measuring equipment and quality control
The manufacturing of bipolar plate stamping tools involves the use of milling cutters with diameters as small as 0.2 mm. For quality control purposes, it is necessary to measure extremely small and narrow contour areas, for example on the sides of the flow channels and on the cut edges. As this means measurements as low as single micrometers, the measurement uncertainty of the measuring system used should be 10 times better than the manufacturing tolerances being examined. This is something that few coordinate-measuring machines are able to achieve.

So that these measuring points can be expertly captured and without excessive effort, the task was given to a Zeiss DotScan optical sensor with a measuring rate of up to 1,000 measuring points per second which was moved with an articulated unit in three different angular positions during scanning.


Measurement of the demonstrator using a Zeiss DotScan optical sensor with a mean percentage error of 1.8 µm + L/350. To facilitate better measurement of the sides, the sensor was moved with an RDS articulated unit and on a Zeiss Contura coordinate-measuring machine during scanning. Image: Zeiss

Results
The presented results (spread ±3 µm) prove the efficiency of the process chain outlined in this article. By selecting the correct components and choosing the right methods, it is possible to achieve a high degree of reliability even when machining high-strength or very hard tool steels. It also allows high quality standards to be met, though this requires all aspects to be considered in detail.

Author: Klaus Vollrath