Drivers of electric cars with fuel cells can now also refuel at the Herten hydrogen (H2) station: H2 MOBILITY Deutschland and its shareholder Linde opened the Herten H2 station today (Friday, 14 June) in the presence of District Administrator Cay Süberkrüb, Recklinghausen District, and Mayor Fred Toplak, City of Herten. It is the fifth station in the Ruhr area. The hydrogen supply network in Germany is thus becoming denser and denser.
The location directly at the Anwenderzentrum h2herten at the junction Marie-Curie-Str./Albert-Einstein Allee is close to the motorways A2 and A43. A total of 15 hydrogen filling stations are already available today in North-Rhine Westphalia, including Wuppertal, Düsseldorf, Essen and Münster. During the “NRW Hydrogen Week” from 23 June to 28 June, stations in Aachen, Siegen and Duisburg will also be opened.
H2 MOBILITY Deutschland, a joint venture that is expanding the hydrogen infrastructure in Germany, is the owner of the H2 Herten station. The filling station technology comes from Linde, a gas and technology company. Nikolas Iwan, Managing Director of H2 MOBILITY Deutschland: “H2 MOBILITY is further expanding the hydrogen filling station network in Germany: This year we will open a station every two weeks on average, and by the end of the year hydrogen customers will be able to refuel at around 100 stations in Germany. The technology is ready for the market.”
The hydrogen station in Herten is state of the art. Using it is intuitive; refuelling is similar to that of conventional vehicles and is completed in three to five minutes. Linde’s IC 90 ionic compressor, which compresses gaseous hydrogen in five stages with up to 900 bar, is used. “Hydrogen technology plays a decisive role in the distribution of electromobility. High range, short refuelling time and good on-site storage capability are decisive criteria,” says Dr. Christian Bruch, member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. “Linde technologies are used at all key points in the H2 value chain and ensure high efficiency”.
Electromobility with hydrogen reduces CO2 emissions
H2 offers the opportunity to expand the range of fuels available in the transport sector in a climate-friendly way, because hydrogen, which is produced with renewable energy, can significantly reduce climate-damaging CO2 emissions. The operation of a hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle causes neither local pollutants nor emissions. The range of these vehicles is 500 to 700 kilometers per tank filling.
For electric mobility with hydrogen to become a success story, an attractive range of fuel cell vehicles and, at the same time, a comprehensive infrastructure are needed. The expansion of the corresponding filling station network is making good progress. Fred Toplak, Mayor of the City of Herten, was delighted with the successful start: “I am delighted that the filling station is another building block for the hydrogen competence centre in Herten,” said Fred Toplak at the opening ceremony. “My special thanks go to the local partners Abfallentsorgungsgesellschaft Ruhrgebiet, Autohaus Glück Auf and Concord Blue for their sustainable project commitment”.
The hydrogen station in Herten is funded by the European Commission through the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH 2 JU) in the Hydrogen Mobility Europe (H2ME) project.