Published on October 14th, 2015 | by Daniel Sherman Fernandez

Germany moves towards nation-wide hydrogen infrastructure

Six industrial companies – Air Liquide, Daimler, Linde, OMV, Shell and Total – have formed a cross-sector joint venture, H₂ MOBILITY Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG. The creation of the limited partnership paves the way for a staged expansion of hydrogen (H₂) filling stations across Germany, which will bring the total to around 400 by 2023. The Berlin-based company has started operations and is working intensively in preparation for Stage One of the joint action plan. This envisages the accelerated set-up of 100 filling stations over the next few years. Senior representatives of the H₂ MOBILITY venture partners met today at launch talks held with Federal Minister of Transport Alexander Dobrindt and discussed the next steps. The industry and government partners have reinforced their commitment by signing a memorandum of understanding on hydrogen filling stations for Germany.

The H₂MOBILITY action plan envisages a Germany-wide network of H₂stations by 2023, which would make Germany the first country to offer an inter-regional network where fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) can fill up with hydrogen. Therefore investments of around EUR 400 million in total are planned. As the industrial key player in the expansion of H₂ infrastructure in Germany, H₂ MOBILITY and its Managing Director, Frank Sreball, are responsible for building and operating a Germany-wide H₂ filling station network. The joint venture also forms an integral part of the research project for the further development of hydrogen-powered mobility. H₂ MOBILITY is an international leader and has the potential to lend impetus to other countries as they expand their hydrogen infrastructure. For example, the company is a member of the recently formed “Hydrogen Mobility Europe” network.

hinten - v.l.n.r. Dr. Peter Blauwhoff, Chairman of the Board of Deutsche Shell Holding GmbH / Benoît Potier, CEO Air Liquide / Hans-Christian Gützkow, Geschäftsführer Total Deutschland / vorne – v.l.n.r. Dr. Wolfgang Büchele, CEO Linde Group / Bundesminister Dobrindt / Prof. Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG back - l.t.r. Dr. Peter Blauwhoff, Chairman of the Board of Deutsche Shell Holding GmbH / Benoît Potier, CEO Air Liquide / Hans-Christian Gützkow, CEO Total Deutschland / front – l.t.r. Dr. Wolfgang Büchele, CEO Linde Group / Federal Minister Dobrindt / Prof. Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG

The joint venture partners have many years of experience in the fields of electric mobility powered by fuel cells, refueling technology and infrastructure build-up. The industrial partners have recently made significant progress on standardization issues as well.

The first automotive manufacturers already have FCEVs in production for the German market. Others are to follow. Numerous associated partners support the activities of the H₂ Mobility. Via the H₂ Mobility advisory, car manufacturers BMW, Volkswagen, Honda and Toyota, as well as the technology company Intelligent Energy are involved in the joint venture.

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Germany moves towards nation-wide hydrogen infrastructure

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