Up until now, Italian company Landi Renzo has been mainly known for its conversion sets for gas engines. Now the automotive supplier, which employs more than 1,200 staff globally, is venturing into the hydrogen sector and developing an advanced electronic pressure regulator for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles with H2 combustion engines.
The Cavriago-based company has joined forces with German group Bosch to help it broaden its range beyond components for natural gas, biomethane or LPG. Its aim is to produce and market hydrogen-based fuel systems with next-generation mechatronic pressure regulators before the end of 2024. In doing so, Landi Renzo hopes to become an enabler of carbon-neutral commercial vehicle operation and thus play a part in accelerating the decarbonization of the mobility and transport sector.
Damiano Micelli, head of technology, commented: “This mechatronic hydrogen pressure regulator is an important milestone in technological advancement which we are able to offer to the rapidly evolving mobility and transportation market. […] This is a highly innovative solution that will be available shortly for medium- and heavy-duty applications.”
Pressure regulators are a key element in conversion kits since they help to balance out large pressure differences and, if needed, change the state of a particular fuel. According to Landi Renzo, “a simple and robust mechanical regulator” was previously sufficient to fulfill this function. However, mechatronic pressure regulators such as the EM-H can also control and calibrate the hydrogen delivery pressure in line with vehicle requirements. In a two-stage process, the inlet pressure is initially reduced mechanically from high to medium. The pressure is then lowered entirely electronically to the desired value.
Landi Renzo has over 70 years of experience in the automotive and energy sectors and its facilities include an H2 center of excellence in Bologna which has a well-equipped, modular Class 8 clean room.
Creating planning security through the development of H2 infrastructure
We have long discussed the question of what comes first when ramping up hydrogen mobility. But this chicken-and-egg problem doesn’t actually exist: The refueling station always comes first! Why this is so exemplifies the first hydrogen refueling station in Gießen.
In August 2023, the first hydrogen refueling station in the regional district Gießen, from Roth Holding & Co. KG, was put into operation under the label “Clean Energy Station.” Before the preceding planning and approval phase, operator Frank Roth had asked himself two essential questions: Do I have customers for the hydrogen refueling station today? And does the legal framework clearly define what green hydrogen is?
In both cases, the answer was no. But the feeling was: The customer wants green hydrogen, so I’m going to start building a corresponding refueling station. Even during the construction phase, it became clear that customers were coming and wanting green hydrogen. How did it work out so well?
The station
This station located on Schiffenberger Weg is suitable for all vehicle types and as a multi-energy station offers diesel, gasoline, electricity and hydrogen. Green hydrogen is produced on site from the company’s own regional wind and solar power plants. Generation by electrolysis takes place with a 1.25‑MWel PEM electrolyzer, which can be expanded to 2.5 MWel and will be able to produce in the expansion stage up to 36 kgH2 per hour. The H2 storage system at the station can store up to two metric tons of hydrogen.
The hydrogen is delivered to buses and trucks at 350 bar and to cars at 700 bar. To compensate for fluctuations in generation or demand, external electricity can also be fed into the electrolyzer. Hydrogen can also be delivered by truck using a trailer solution. Furthermore, excess hydrogen produced can also be delivered, likewise by trailer, to other refueling stations or customers in the area. This makes the station very flexible and able to handle a wide scope of demand as well as supply other customers if needed.
Fig. 2: The H2 value chain – from H2 generation based on renewables to fleet operation. The key components are highlighted in orange.
What is important?
H2 refueling stations, as a nucleus for the energy transition and sector coupling, are indispensable. They connect renewable electricity with mobility customers. The chicken-and-egg problem is often discussed here. Practice shows that it is an unnecessary discussion. The refueling station must be there first. It is then able to attract customers in a variety of ways. The key point here is that it creates planning security for all parties involved.
With the station in Gießen, for example, the operator Roth and all project participants told connections in their networks about the construction of the refueling station. They very quickly expressed an interest in the hydrogen. Two examples are the initiatives H2-Lernwerkstatt in the regional district Gießen (see box 1) and the HyWheels Hessenflotten-Cluster from Fulda (see box 2). The engineering firm Emcel was involved in the planning and approval of the station and promoted networking with these two initiatives, which were developed along with Emcel.
Summary
Hydrogen refueling stations are advancing the clean transportation transition. As direct customers, fleet customers such as the H2-Lernwerkstatt and HYWHEELS Hessenflotten-Cluster are benefitting because they do not have to worry about having a hydrogen supply themselves. But for the delivery of hydrogen to the refueling station and the storage of renewable energy, refueling stations are also welcome customers. The most important factor in this phase of the H2 market ramp-up, however, is the planning security that hydrogen refueling stations offer for the clean energy and drive transition. Private and business customers can thus reliably tackle their fleet conversion.
Box 1: H2-Lernwerkstatt in district Gießen
The learning workshop (Lernwerkstatt) was developed, together with Emcel, out of the e-coach bus consultations that the state of Hessen energy agency (LandesEnergieAgentur, LEA Hessen) was offering, and was significantly implemented by Fahma Fahrzeugmanagement GmbH. The learning workshop allows bus companies in the district of Gießen and the surrounding area a low-threshold entry into electric public transport, which is associated with a relatively low financial risk. They can gain experience with hydrogen buses, and at the same time the citizens familiarize themselves with hydrogen-powered public transport.
The projects H2-Tankstelle (refueling station) and H2-Lernwerkstatt are combined for mutual benefit: The refueling station enables bus operation and provides the learning workshop with a sure source of hydrogen, and the learning workshop provides the refueling station with regular customers with a corresponding demand for hydrogen.
Box 2: HyWheels Hessenflotten-Cluster
The HyWheels Hessenflotten-Cluster emerged from a study that was used to develop a detailed concept for hydrogen-based transport logistics in the region Fulda in year 2020/21. The cluster represents a central point of contact for players from the shipping and infrastructure sectors (refueling stations as well as service and maintenance) and has set itself the goal of providing shipping companies with a low-threshold entry into hydrogen-powered commercial vehicle transport. These benefit from easier procurement of fuel cell trucks, accessible H2 infrastructure and lower financial risks. Refueling station operators such as H2-Tankstelle Gießen in turn gain further hydrogen customers.
Fig. 3: The HyWheels Hessenflotten-Cluster offers the shown players synergy effects and added value through networking and cooperation.
Hyzon Motors will start production of 200‑kW modules for commercial vehicles in the USA in the second half of 2024. This should then lead to a recovery of the strongly depressed share price via incoming orders. Parallel to this are running product presentations such as the recent one in Melbourne (Australia) with the 200‑kW Hyzon Prime Mover at the Kangan Institute Automotive Centre of Excellence. Deliveries in New Zealand, Australia, Europe and the USA are planned for later in the year. This fuel cell system can be used in many other applications and markets at the same time: rail vehicles, maritime transport, stationary energy, mining vehicles, etc. It will be interesting to see which customers this 200‑kW single stack will find and the order potential that will result, especially as it offers a cost reduction potential of over 25 percent and conserves 30 percent of the space and weight – compared with a 110‑kW system. A first major market for Hyzon will be the employment in commercial vehicles in Australia, where the company has an important location with around 50 employees.
Patent registrations – Competition with Toyota and Bosch
Hyzon Motors has applied for a number of patents in the USA, Europe and Asia and many have already been granted. The main focus here is on reducing emissions when using fuel cells, but also on battery systems. What this means in detail is not clear to me, but shows that Hyzon is very active in securing patents and sees in it an important basis for its FC products and utilizations as well as markets. This would put them in direct competition with companies such as Toyota and Bosch. This could – purely theoretically – eventually lead to license revenue.
Hyzon still has with over 100 million USD sufficient capital, but will not be able to avoid taking measures (issue of new shares or participation of a strategic investor) to finance the company’s growth and expansion. The production facility in Illinois is self-financed. Production ramp-up is beginning in the second half of the year. Incoming orders for the FC modules as well as speculation by a strategic partner or investor make the share of Hyzon Motors a very interesting speculation, although the investment is to be classified as highly speculative as you’re dealing with a start-up.
Disclaimer
Each investor must always be aware of their own risk when investing in shares and should consider a sensible risk diversification. The FC companies and shares mentioned here are small and mid cap, i.e. they are not standard stocks and their volatility is also much higher. This report is not meant to be viewed as purchase recommendations, and the author holds no liability for your actions. All information is based on publicly available sources and, as far as assessment is concerned, represents exclusively the personal opinion of the author, who focuses on medium- and long-term valuation and not on short-term profit. The author may be in possession of the shares presented here.
FuelCell Energy has with SOFC fuel cell power plants built its own capacities for clean energy totaling 62.8 MW (previous year: 43.7 MW). The company’s own high-temperature fuel cell serves as the basis for use in electrolysis, where the company has recognized great potential for itself. Along with that are various research projects, among others in Canada, and the company relies on specially developed carbon capture technology that is designed to avoid emissions and generate emissions-free energy at the same time. So far, so good. But you can’t avoid thinking of competitors such as Bloom Energy, Sunfire and Ceres Power (indirectly also Weichai Power and Bosch), which pursue similar visions and technological approaches to FuelCell Energy.
What all this means in terms of order and implementation potential is unfortunately not yet clear to me. The figures so far are sobering: The first quarter (fiscal year 31.01.24) brought a loss of 44.4 million USD. Turnover fell in the quarter to 16.7 million USD. Of liquidity, the company has no lack: 348.4 million USD was in the bank January 31, 2024. However, there has been a constant outflow of capital for years, aided by constant share placements on the stock exchange via an ATM program. Projects such as that with Exxon in Holland sound promising, but say very little about the potential. In South Korea, former partner Posco, via its subsidiary Korea Fuel Cells, forfeited the option of further orders in supplement to a previous project. Not a good sign.
Joint venture with ExxonMobil
At first glance, it sounds promising: FuelCell Energy and ExxonMobil have agreed to build a production plant for carbon capture in Rotterdam. It entails the avoidance of CO2 emissions or the storage and making usable, without generating a carbon footprint. CCS stands for carbon capture and storage. After successful deployment directly in the neighborhood of important industries, the project that is based on the technology of FuelCell Energy could be deployed at all production sites of ExxonMobil where CO2 emissions are generated. The process is to generate heat as a by-product and enable the production of green hydrogen.
Unfortunately, there is no indication of the exact investment volume (invest on the part of FuelCell Energy) and the order volume that can be derived from this. In any case, the project is financially supported by the EU via the Emissions Trading System Innovation Fund. ExxonMobil and FuelCell Energy have already been working on the associated technologies for some time, so this specific project represents another important milestone.
The cash cushion is safeguarding the share price well. The stock exchange will rediscover FuelCell Energy when it can be shown how technologies such as carbon capture and SOEC can generate orders and earn money. That will take some time. The share is always suitable for trading, as good news quickly leads to major price swings.
Disclaimer
Each investor must always be aware of their own risk when investing in shares and should consider a sensible risk diversification. The FC companies and shares mentioned here are small and mid cap, i.e. they are not standard stocks and their volatility is also much higher. This report is not meant to be viewed as purchase recommendations, and the author holds no liability for your actions. All information is based on publicly available sources and, as far as assessment is concerned, represents exclusively the personal opinion of the author, who focuses on medium- and long-term valuation and not on short-term profit. The author may be in possession of the shares presented here.
A good 450 participants gathered at the specialist conference H2 Forum in Berlin February 19 and 20 to discuss innovative H2 technologies, strategies for the market ramp-up and the necessary regulatory framework conditions. A further 1,000 participants were connected online, even despite the considerable time difference in countries such as India and the USA.
The event was opened via a video by Kadri Simson, EU Commissioner for Energy. The two-day program was held under the motto “Empowering the future of hydrogen,” where this year’s focus was on the production of the green gas by electrolysis and its transport in Germany and Europe. At the H2 Forum were, among others, representatives from E.on, Enapter, EWE, Linde, FNB Gas and the H2Global Foundation. They discussed the role of hydrogen in the defossilization of the economic systems. Philipp Steinberg of the German economy ministry outlined the various phases of the development of the hydrogen core grid in Germany.
Feelings of optimism and assurance were tangible throughout the high-ceilinged rooms of the Estrel Congress Center (ECC) as players from politics, industry and the energy sector talked about ambitious H2 projects at home and abroad. Inspiring as well was the approval by the EU Commission a few days before of a series of IPCEI projects, thus ending for some participating companies years of waiting. Additionally, the carbon contracts for difference and the auctions of the European Hydrogen Bank are giving hope to business representatives.
Spain: Megawatt-electrolysis in practice
For example, Özlem Tosun, project manager for green hydrogen at Iberdrola Deutschland, reported on the experience with a 20‑MW electrolysis plant, making it currently the largest in Europe. “I hope it doesn’t stay that way,” she added, in view of the necessary market ramp-up for green hydrogen. The Spanish energy corporation, known in the country primarily as an operator of wind farms in the Baltic Sea, started operation of the plant in Puertollano, May 2022 in the presence of the King of Spain. The city with nearly 50,000 inhabitants is located about 250 kilometers south of Madrid. The electricity for the hydrogen production comes from a 100‑MW photovoltaic park a few kilometers away and flows via an underground cable into the production hall, in which 16 electrolyzers of 1.25 MW each perform their work. These produce annually up to 3,000 tonnes of green hydrogen, which is temporarily stored in tower-high pressure tanks at 60 bar. The electrolysis plant is located next to the fertilizer factory of Fertiberia and currently covers ten percent of their hydrogen requirement, which according to Iberdrola saves 48,000 metric tons of CO2.
“But this is just the beginning,” stressed Tosun. “In the coming years, Iberdrola wants to increase the production more than tenfold – to 40,000 tonnes by 2027.” The demand is there, since otherwise Fertiberia is using for its ammonia synthesis gray hydrogen obtained from natural gas. That no comparable plant for the production of green hydrogen on an industrial scale is yet in operation is also due to the fact that the whole thing is not as simple as it sounds in the big plans and letters of intent. “It didn’t go smoothly from the start,” admitted Özlem Tosun. “On the contrary – we had a lot of problems. But we also learned a lot and were able to improve a lot as a result. Not only technically, but also economically.” One of the most important points was to optimize the efficiency of electricity use. Contributing to this was that the performance and efficiency of the electrolyzers were able to be increased further and further.
Overall, the practical experience in Puertollano was important “to be able to scale the system.” As far as the large-scale production of climate-neutral energy sources is concerned, the multinational energy company not only sees itself as a pioneer, but is also optimistic about the future. Because Spain first wants to become independent of fossil fuel imports and then be able to export renewable energies. So it’s no wonder that Germany is for Iberdrola “a key market,” as Tosun says, “especially for green hydrogen.”
Lack of regulation as a stumbling block
How the development of a German and European hydrogen industry can be accelerated was one of many other topics discussed at the conference. It is important to break down barriers – for example lack of regulation and infrastructure – it was said in a panel discussion. Such hurdles, the speakers agreed, were in addition to the high costs for H2 production, like before, the crucial reasons why not a small number of companies, despite the positive feasibility studies, are still waiting with the final investment decision. The following figures show just how wide the gap is between aspiration and reality when it comes to the gas of the future: In recent years, the German government has raised the target for domestic production of green hydrogen from the original three gigawatts to ten gigawatts, yet so far not more than 62 MW of generation capacity has been installed. That there is a long way to go, but which can go faster, further practical examples have shown.
“Never waste a green electron again!”
“Did you know that with the wind power that was curtailed in the first half of 2022 alone 1.5 million households in Europe could have been supplied with electricity for a year?“ (The figure refers to average households with a consumption of 3,500 kWh per year.) That was one of several questions with which Alexander Voigt, managing director of HH2E, began his speech. “What could we do with all the green electrons that are not being generated only because the power grid cannot absorb them?” His answer, of course: Hydrogen! But also high-performance battery storage, to be able to offer energy for stabilization of the power grid. That’s how he explained the business model of the planned HH2E factory in Lubmin, Germany. It will use surplus electricity to “reliably and cost-effectively produce green hydrogen.” In addition will come CO2-free heating and, if required, the conversion of the “green molecules” back into electricity.
Alexander Voigt, CEO von HH2E, nutzt künftig Überschussstrom in Lubmin (Foto: Monika Rößiger), Source: Monika Rößiger
With this, the plant could contribute to the decarbonization of industry in Germany and, at the same time, support the energy supply. The final investment decision will be made shortly, according to Voigt, and then the way would be clear for the start of construction. In the year 2026, according to the plan, energy generation is to start: around 100 megawatts of total capacity in the first expansion stage, divided between a 56‑MW electrolyzer and a 40‑MW battery storage system. The electricity for electrolysis is coming from offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea. Initially, the operators expect to produce around 7,200 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. The production capacity of the plant is scalable up to one gigawatt. Lubmin, once a transshipment point for Russian natural gas, will then become a center for green hydrogen. This can be fed into the existing natural gas grid that extends from the northeast of Germany to the southwest near Stuttgart.
In total, more than 40 companies from the entire H2 value chain presented their solutions and products in the high glass hall next to the conference hall in the Estrel Congress Center. The organizational framework of the H2 Forum was right: There was time to connect during the coffee breaks, lunch and supper. Lively discussions took place at all the tables and stands. That more politicians were present this time than at previous events was, according to Laura Pawlik, Sales Manager of the organizer IPM, particularly emphasized in the feedback from the participants. And also that the representatives from politics and administration were definitely open to further funding.
The date for the next conference has already been set: March 4 and 5, 2025, again in the ECC in Berlin. Focal points will be in addition to politics also the regulatory progress in Germany and Europe.
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