The fuel cell is considered a key technology in the energy transition: With the help of hydrogen, electricity and heat can be generated. The world’s largest automotive supplier Bosch is now hoping for a breakthrough.
From Till Bücker, tagesschau.de According to numerous experts, hydrogen is the energy carrier of the future – for sustainable electricity in traffic, in buildings and also in industry. The federal government made a decision last summer its own hydrogen strategy . The fuel cell is an important part of this. The technology group Bosch wants to ensure a global breakthrough and, in addition to deliveries to car manufacturers and cooperations in China, is also relying on its own stationary fuel cells. The Swabians have set themselves the goal of CO2 neutrality in accordance with global climate protection requirements. In drive technology, electromobility is establishing itself as a core business, said Bosch boss Volkmar Denner recently. Therefore, the company is pushing the conversion from diesel and gasoline engines to alternative drives.
The heart of the cells is the so-called stacks on which the reaction takes place. It consists of hundreds of closely stacked bipolar plates through which the hydrogen is supplied on one side and the water produced during the chemical reaction is discharged on the other.
Batteries are technically more efficient
Five billion euros have already been invested in future technology and orders worth more than 20 billion euros have been won. Sales are currently growing by almost 40 percent, twice as fast as the market. By 2025, sales should increase fivefold to five billion euros, and the business should be profitable from 2024. “Electromobility has long since ceased to be a bet on the future, we deserve back what we spent in advance,” said Denner. In a fuel cell, a fuel – usually hydrogen – reacts with oxygen, releasing electrical energy. As early as the 1990s, it was considered the technology of the future: vehicles should roll on the streets without exhaust fumes and every house should be able to generate its own electricity. Then the technology went quiet for a long time. Daimler and Toyota, for example, have been working on hydrogen cars for a long time. So far, however, the principle has not really prevailed. The problem is the high production costs. Contrary to older studies, the electric car with a battery should also be technically more efficient . To cover the same distance, a hydrogen drive needs twice to three times as much electricity. Because the fuel first has to be produced with a high expenditure of energy.
Drive for trucks
Nevertheless, Bosch wants to help the fuel cell achieve a breakthrough worldwide as an emission-free drive solution – especially in commercial vehicles. To this end, the supplier recently founded a joint venture with the Chinese company Qingling, with which “if possible all Chinese vehicle manufacturers” are to be supplied with fuel cell systems. So far, the truck manufacturer Nikola, a startup from the USA, was Bosch’s first and most important customer. The group refers to forecasts by the China Society of Automotive Engineers (China-SAE), according to which more than one million vehicles with fuel cell drives will be registered in China by 2030. The Chinese government is already investing heavily in the infrastructure. The first test fleet of 70 trucks with the Bosch system is due to start this year. The official market launch is planned for 2022/2023. Together with the Swedish specialist Powercell, the Stuttgart-based group is also developing fuel cell stacks, something like the heart of cold burners, in order to be able to produce in large series from 2022. “Especially with large, heavy vehicles that travel long distances, the fuel cell offers clear advantages over battery-electric drives,” said Stefan Hartung, the managing director responsible for the mobility division. Unlike purely battery-operated trucks, trucks with fuel cells do not have an eight-ton battery on board. According to Bosch, every eighth newly registered heavy commercial vehicle could be equipped with a fuel cell by 2030. Daimler also recently drove his is advancing its plans for liquid hydrogen powered heavy trucks.
Stationary fuel cells as municipal electricity suppliers
In addition, fuel cells could also provide sustainable energy for cities, factories, data centers and homes in the future. Private fuel cell heating systems are not yet very widespread in Germany, but have what it takes, according to experts, to become the “game changer” of the heating transition. Bosch also took a step forward in the area of energy at the end of March. A first stationary fuel cell will supply the city of Bamberg with climate-friendly electricity in the future. The two-meter-high refrigerator-sized system generates around ten kilowatts of electricity and covers the needs of more than 20 households with four people around the bus station. The resulting heat will be used by a bakery for heating and hot water preparation. The new plant in Bamberg will initially run on natural gas, but is already hydrogen-capable. The fuel cell already saves up to 40 percent in CO2 missions compared to the electricity mix in Germany, the company emphasized. Basically, the whole thing only becomes completely CO2-neutral when the hydrogen is also sustainably generated.
Billion market emerges
For the first time, the company is testing a stationary fuel cell under real conditions, said a spokeswoman for Bosch. So far, the system has only been tested in the factories. Series production is to start in three years, and the company plans to invest a three-digit million amount by then. Not without reason: Bosch estimates that by 2030 a global market for stationary fuel cells for industrial and commercial applications in the order of magnitude of 20 billion euros a year will emerge. With their systems, the Stuttgart-based company wants to create a production capacity of around 200 megawatts per year – that would be a power supply for the households of 400,000 people. Bosch sees itself as the first major European corporation to announce the industrialization and continuous operation of stationary systems on this scale. In addition to Bosch, other German companies are also involved in the billion-dollar market of tomorrow: SFC Energy from Brunnthal near Munich and SOLIDpower are also among the leading suppliers of fuel cells.
You must log in to post a comment.