Hannover, 01 April 2019 | Drivers of fuel-cell electric cars can refuel at more and more filling stations: H2 MOBILITY Deutschland and its shareholders Shell and Air Liquide have jointly opened a hydrogen (H2) filling station in Hannover-Laatzen – the fifth in Lower Saxony. The hydrogen supply network in Germany is becoming increasingly tight knit.
Hydrogen is used to refuel electric vehicles with fuel cells. Their advantages: no noise, no pollutants, but the same use, speed and range as passenger cars with petrol or diesel engines. Hydrogen vehicles have ranges of 500 to 800 kilometres, and are refuelled in just three minutes.
The network of stations at which fuel cell vehicles can refuel with hydrogen is becoming increasingly tight knit. There are now 64 H2 filling stations in Germany; by the end of 2019 there will be 100. Other H2 filling stations can be found nearby in Wolfsburg and Osnabrück, as well as in Kassel, Bremen, Stuhr and Hamburg.
The facility at the Shell service station on Karlsruher Straße 12 is directly next to the Hannover Messe convention grounds and near the Hannover-Süd motorway junction. It is a link, e.g., for journeys on the routes from Hamburg to Hesse and southern Germany or from Berlin to North Rhine-Westphalia.
The client is H2 MOBILITY, a joint venture that is setting up a hydrogen infrastructure in Germany. The filling station technology comes from the gas and technology company Air Liquide.
The Hannover-Laatzen hydrogen station is state-of-the-art, intuitive to use by the driver; refuelling is similar to that of conventional vehicles and takes three to five minutes. The facility has a capacity of around 200 kilograms of hydrogen – enough to refuel 40 to 50 vehicles a day.
E-mobility with hydrogen reduces CO2 emissions
Hydrogen offers a way to expand the range of fuels available in the transport sector in a climate-friendly way, because climate-damaging CO2 emissions can be significantly reduced by using hydrogen, especially if it is produced with renewable energy.
The hydrogen station in Hannover-Laatzen 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.
Comments from participants on the opening of the H2 station Hannover-Laatzen:
Olaf Lies, Lower Saxony Minister for the Environment, Energy, Building and Climate Protection
“Lower Saxony has pursued a systematic hydrogen strategy for some time now, and champions the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier in a wide variety of areas, including mobility. If we want to achieve our climate protection targets, emission-free mobility will become more and more important. Hydrogen-powered fuel cells are a fixture in this, alongside battery-powered electric vehicles. However, the change from hot to cold combustion can only succeed if the charging infrastructure is in place. So I am pleased to see another hydrogen filling station in the Hannover area. We have the technology and the know-how to make use of hydrogen. We should seize these opportunities.”
Thomas Zengerly, Chairman of the Board of Shell Deutschland Oil GmbH:
“Hydrogen is a promising proposition. We expect that, starting in the 2020s, this alternative drive will play an increasingly important role in markets such as Germany, England, the Benelux countries, the USA and Japan. At Shell, we are right on course.”
Markus Schewitza, Managing Director Air Liquide Advanced Technologies GmbH:
“Hydrogen is one of the best solutions for achieving the targets of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. It has the potential to decarbonise the transport sector, one of the major sources of pollution in our cities. Air Liquide is proud to be involved in the development of Europe’s largest hydrogen infrastructure and thereby create the conditions for the roll-out of fuel-cell vehicles in Germany”.
Lorenz Jung, Head of Network at H2 Mobility Deutschland GmbH:
“Germany is a pioneer in hydrogen-powered electromobility! We are currently building the backbone of hydrogen mobility with the first 100 stations in seven major German metropolitan regions and along the most heavily frequented trunk roads and motorways. As we continue to expand, we will increasingly go where the demand is.”
About H2 MOBILITY
H2 Mobility Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG is responsible for building a hydrogen infrastructure to supply cars with fuel-cell propulsion (700 bar technology) in Germany. The interim goal by the end of 2019 is to operate 100 H2 stations in seven German metropolitan regions (Hamburg, Berlin, Rhine-Ruhr, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Munich) as well as along trunk roads and motorways. With the ramp-up of vehicle numbers, up to 400 hydrogen stations are to eventually ensure a nationwide supply. H2 MOBILITY is responsible, for example, for network planning, permitting, procurement, construction, and operation.
The company’s shareholders are Air Liquide, Daimler, Linde, OMV, Shell and TOTAL, with BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and Volkswagen and NOW GmbH (National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology) serving in an advisory capacity as associated partners.
More information: h2.live
Caption: Olaf Lies (Minister for the Environment, Energy, Building and Climate Protection), Lorenz Jung (H2 MOBILITY), Dr. Silke Lesemann (MdL Lower Saxony), Dr. med. Thomas Zengerly (Shell Deutschland Oil) and Markus Schewitza (Air Liquide Advanced Technologies) are opening a hydrogen filling station next to the Hannover Messe.
Pressemitteilung H2-Tankstelle Hannover Laatzen_190401_EN
PRESS ENQUIRIES:
Shell Deutschland Oil GmbH
Axel Pommeränke, +49 (0)40 6324 5290, shellpresse@shell.com
Air Liquide Deutschland GmbH
Nicola Blumhofer, +49 (0)211 6699-4242, nicola.blumhofer@airliquide.com
H2 MOBILITY Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG
Sybille Riepe, +49 (0)170 58 70 317, riepe@h2-mobility.de