Applications with hydrogen fuel cells

After developing and operating a first hydrogen fuel cell truck in 2016 for Coop, in 2020 the Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell truck was launched. A first pre-series of 48 trucks have been operating in Switzerland with a cumulative distance driven of over 11 million kilometers, saving over 9000 tons of CO₂ compared to their diesel counterparts. Over 100 series production trucks have also been sold into Europe by Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility with more on the way.

A large contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, the de-carbonization of buildings is a crucial step towards a climate friendly future. Apart from direct electrification, the use of hydrogen for building heat and power is an effective way to make the switch from fossil fuels. Especially in cold climates and during winter months, green hydrogen can help to meet peak power and heating requirements that would otherwise need over dimensioning of the electrical grid. This solution works in perfect combination with heat pumps and can even provide electricity for the charging of battery electric vehicles when renewable resources such as wind and solar are scarce.

The shipping industry contributes 3% of global emissions, a value which could increase to 10% by 2050. It is also very hard to de-carbonize from an economic perspective, mostly owing to the long distances travelled, low cost of fuel oil and high efficiency of large reciprocating engines. For certain use cases, like cargo ferries in point-to-point operations, hydrogen represents an effective solution for decarbonization. Together with DFDS, H2 Energy has performed a feasibility study on the hydrogen propulsion and refueling of a large ferry. The Lloyd’s Register (LR) also contributed with a safety risk assessment and issued an Approval in Principle (AiP) for the concept and initial design of the hydrogen systems.

Although many railways have already been electrified, there are still numerous routes which rely on diesel engines for their propulsion. Both battery electric and hydrogen fuel cells can provide highly effective options to enable the transition towards zero emission railways. H2 Energy has been involved in a number of activities in the area of hydrogen trains and has recently completed a feasibility study for a major rail OEM on the topic of hydrogen refueling.

Fuel cells can provide electrical power for a range of stationary applications like EV charging and remote power supply. The kvyreen power products have been developed and are manufactured by the H2 Energy team at our facilities in Zurich and Budapest. The power module developed for the kvyreen can be adapted towards many other applications and serves as a solid basis for further product development. Our engineering and production team have the entire system know-how from software, mechanical, electrical, certification and testing which can be applied to your project as well.