When it comes to the subject of “infrastructure of electric vehicles”, there are many different opinions regarding costs, the possibility of integrating the infrastructure into the power grids and the efficiency of energy supply. Depending on one’s point of view, the infrastructure for battery cars is sometimes better than that for fuel cell cars.
Since the number of hydrogen filling stations in Germany is unstoppably approaching the three-digit range, the inauguration celebrations are becoming smaller and the press releases fewer. Most recently, numerous high-ranking industry representatives and politicians appeared at the 50th H2 station in Potsdam.
Hydrogen is an oft-discussed topic in and around Hamburg these days: In summer last year, the city became the birthplace of the Hydrogen Industry Network in Northern Germany. In November 2018, it was where the economy and transportation ministers of the German states on the coastline met for a conference on a joint hydrogen strategy for the region. H2-international talked to Heinrich Klingenberg, the network’s spokesman and chief executive of hySolutions, about the organization’s plans and the future role of the city.
As part of the 50 H2 stations by 2015 program, on 4th May 2015, the first hydrogen filling station to be situated on a German freeway was opened. The Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) officially opened the facility, which is situated at the Geiselwind truck stop, in the presence of the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Transportation and Digital Infrastructure, Dorothee Bär. The station
For several months, speculation has been rife concerning the continuation of the National Innovation Program for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP), or a possible NIP 2.0. To ensure that the ideas on the configuration of the revised program aren’t rejected before it has even got off the ground, it is worth taking a brief look back: what, exactly, were the contents and goals of the NIP 1.0?
In March 2015, the German Federal Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) introduced a new funding regulation: “Fuel cells for highly efficient combined heat and power units”. These FC-CHP guidelines aim to ensure the smooth transition of fuel cell-based combined heat and power technology from the research and development stage (R&D) to commercialization over the short and medium term. On this basis, the BMVI awards investment grants to fuel cell CHP devices in single and multi-family dwellings as well as in industrial and commercial properties which have an electrical output of up to 20kW. Playing a leading role here are the