Germany
Transport and Hydrogen Infrastructure
The Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) is the most substantial demonstration project in the area of hydrogen transport and infrastructure. Established in 2002, the CEP is an international group of cooperating enterprises whose aim is to prove the feasibility of hydrogen as fuel in day-to-day use.
In October 2008, CEP entered Phase 2, and since then 48% of its funding has been through the NIP. The CEP partners are BMW Group, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe BVG, Daimler, Ford, General Motors/Opel, Hamburger Hochbahn HH, Linde Shell, StatoilHydro, TOTAL, Vattenfall Europe, and Volkswagen. The total CEP budget in 2008 was €25.8 million (US$37.79 million).
CEP focuses on the key regions of Berlin and Hamburg. More than 30 passenger cars and two bus fleets are in day-to-day use. CEP also maintains a fueling network in Hamburg and Berlin.
Hydrogen Cars
Ten HydroGen4 vehicles from General Motors/Opel joined the CEP’s fleet of cars in 2008. The HydroGen4 is a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle of the latest generation whose features include a 700-bar hydrogen storage system. The vehicles will be in daily use in Berlin until the end of the second CEP phase in 2010.
VW has enlarged the CEP fleet with the addition of its latest fuel cell vehicles, the HyMotion models based on the VW Tiguan. The vehicles are equipped with start-stop functionality and braking energy recovery and have made a major contribution to CEP’s aim of establishing a fleet of 40 vehicles by 2010. Volkswagen plans to use the six vehicles to learn more about the supply, operation, and performance of fuel cell vehicles.
BMW has been a rock-solid participant since CEP’s early days. In Phase 2, the company will operate additional BMW Hydrogen7 vehicles in Berlin. Unlike other manufacturers’ vehicles, most of the BMW Hydrogen7s are equipped with bivalent H2´combustion engines, although some of them have a monovalent H2 combustion engine.
Daimler’s core aims for using its 10 A-Class hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are to support demonstration operation and realize improvement in servicing and maintaining the vehicles and in project management. The cars are being subjected to testing in everyday situations in the hydrogen cities of Hamburg and Berlin. During the second CEP phase, which expires in 2010, Daimler plans to increase its fleet of small fuel cell cars in the customer section with the addition of the Mercedes-Benz B-Class fuel cell vehicles.
Hydrogen Buses
The hydrogen-powered buses integrated into the public transport systems of Berlin (run by BVG) and Hamburg (run by Hochbahn) commenced operation in CEP's first phase as part of the European Union (EU)-subsidized project, HyFleet:CUTE. The project, “Sustainable Bus System of the Future” (NaBuZ) by partners EvoBus, Daimler, and Hamburger Hochbahn, is at the demonstration preparation stage. The partners’ aim is to use a small, initial series of 10 fuel cell hybrid buses in Hamburg as part of Hochbahn’s scheduled services. NaBuZ will become part of CEP as soon as this small series is operating as a demonstration project.
Hydrogen Refueling Stations
Shell Deutschland Oil GmbH is planning an innovative hydrogen refueling station. Compact, scalable pump technology for hydrogen refueling is to be used on a large scale in Berlin and developed further in everyday operation. In this way, Shell aims to prove greater energy efficiency, longer service life, and fewer needs for repairs.
Linde is closely involved in this project. The company plans to develop an innovative refueling method to support large-scale public refueling on the basis of a new concept that includes such core components as a 900-bar pump and a thermal block for the thermal treatment of the hydrogen. The aim of the new system is to save space and energy and ensure reliable series refueling.
Linde is also continuing the operation of mobile 350- or 700-bar refueling points in order to meet increasing demand from the expanding hydrogen fleet. Established in the first CEP phase, the refueling system is located close to Berlin’s city centre.
TOTAL Deutschland is creating a mobile 700-bar refueling system for temporary use. In addition to supplying Berlin’s fleet of hydrogen-powered vehicles, the company’s aim is to thoroughly test mobile refueling systems as a supply option for early markets.
TOTAL’s service station in Heerstrasse, Berlin, continues to serve the CEP fleet in the second phase of the project. The refueling station is designed for hydrogen vehicles with 350- and 700-bar storage systems. It also has the technical equipment needed to refuel with liquid hydrogen.
In the longer term, renewable energy sources, in particular, are to be used for hydrogen production. Vattenfall is an important member of CEP in terms of establishing a hydrogen infrastructure of this kind in Germany.