Virtual Study Tour "Electro Mobility with Hydrogen"
May 6th marked the beginning of the latest edition of the virtual Study Tour. This tour consists of live streams with five German H2 projects from different sectors, and aims at companies’ representatives, R&D institutions, and public sector actors from the transport sector who have interest in green hydrogen.
The Study Tour objective is to showcase the technology of these pioneer projects in H2, to inspire Chilean projects and adapt it to local conditions.
The programme includes, among other things, a virtual visit to a public transport hydrogen-fuelled buses project in Wuppertal; the largest hydrogen-mobility project in Germany, by GP JOULE; a fuel cell push boat; the Coradia iLint hydrogen-powered train, and more.
This Virtual Tour is organized by AHK Chile and takes place within the framework of the Energy Partnership Chile-Germany, an alliance that seeks to increase energy efficiency, promote a greater use of renewable energy, and transform the energy systems of both countries for the future.
First Day
The virtual Study Tour began with a very detailed presentation by the WSW group, from Wuppertal, which is the municipal company for urban waste management and public transport in the city of Wuppertal. This virtual visit introduced the electromobility Project for urban buses “H2-W – Wasserstoffmobilität für Wuppertal” (Hydrogen Mobility for Wuppertal), and included a live tour of the plant.
This Project has ten fuel-cell-powered buses, and was born as an answer to the search of a green alternative that would not generate higher costs than the existent diesel fleet. The company works with its sister company AWG Abfallwirtschaftgesellschaft mbH, which produces the needed hydrogen for the bus fleet through electrolysis, obtaining electricity from the burning of the city’s waste in its conversion plant, significantly reducing pollutant emissions in Wuppertal, according to the provided data.
The plant produces approximately 400 kg of hydrogen per day, and it has a 450 kg hydrogen tank for storage, as well as a refuelling system for the fuel cell buses. During the tour, attendees had the possibility to visit the facilities, including the refuelling point and the Waste-To-Energy power plant, where electricity for the electrolysers is produced.
The event was attended by over 50 stakeholders from different sectors, who, thanks to this space for dialogue, were able to ask questions to the manager of the transport unit, Andreas Meyer.
To learn more about WSW Wuppertal, visit their website: https://www.wsw-online.de/mobilitaet// (site in German)
This format allows participants to observe and learn from the actor's solutions to challenges, and how to adress those challenges to accelerate the development process and learning curve.
Second day
On this occasion, the group virtually travelled to the Saxony-Anhalt region to visit the “Elektra” project, which is being developed by the Hermann Barthel GmbH shipyard, on behalf of the Technical University of Berlin. Elektra is the first zero-emission cargo ship, owing its climate neutrality to an energy supply that combines hydrogen fuel cells and electric batteries, according to Ms. Barthel.
The ship will mainly be used for regional freight transport in the Berlin-Brandenburg area, and supra-regional freight transport on the Berlin-Hamburg route, reaching speeds up to 8,5 km per hour. According to data presented by the company, the operating time on regional routes with a trust load of 1.400 tonnes is about eight hours, or 65 kilometres, and on a supra-regional route, about 16 hours, or 130 kilometres.
The Project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure, and was developed by the Department of Maritime Systems Design and Exploitation at the Technical University of Berlin.
During the almost two-hour visit, Ms. Barthel shown the cargo ship facilities, including the fuel cells and batteries. She also gave detailed answers to the questions from the approximately 60 attendees
For more information about Hermann Barthel GmbH, please visit the website: https://www.barthel-werft.de/ (site in German)
Third Day
After last week’s networking session, it was time for Alstom. This company presented the world’s first passenger train powered by hydrogen and electric batteries, with zero emissions and the potential to achieve carbon neutrality through green hydrogen.
Thanks to the presentation and videos shown during this visit, the almost 50 attendees got to know the project’s development process, from construction, equipment and infrastructure to the approval, commissioning and refuelling of the train thanks to a mobile refuelling station. The train is equipped with 150 seats, a toilet, a top speed of 140 km per hour, and a maximum range of 1000 km.
The Project started on 2018 and, nowadays, Alstom is developing similar projects in commuter rail networks in countries like Italy, France, and the United Kingdom, where they intend to transform and retrofit an existing electric train to run on hydrogen fuel cells. They have also carried out train tests in the Netherlands and Austria, where, according to their results, the experiences were highly satisfactory, and the Austrian state railway company ÖBB expects to expand its fleet with Alstom H2 trains.
To learn more about Alstom, visit their website: https://www.alstom.com/alstom-germany
„Great opportunity for networking: making contact with companies, clients, projects, and business partners, despite the pandemic”
Fourth Day
The last week of the Study Tour started with a virtual trip to Northern Germany, thanks to Johannes Brock and the German company GP JOULE, to visit Germany’s first public hydrogen station supplying 100% green hydrogen. On this occasion, 43 participants attended the event.
The GP JOULE Project consists of solar plants and wind farms, two electrolysers with a capacity of 0,5 MW each, transport containers and 300 bar compressors. The hydrogen station is capable of refuelling 25 per day, equivalent to 740 kg of hydrogen, according to data from the company. At the moment, the hydrogen station is used by two local public transport buses, each with a range of 400 km and a consumption of 30 kg of hydrogen per day.
In the next two years, GP JOULE is planning five hydrogen station projects in Germany, larger than the current project. For these new projects, it will be necessary to adapt the energy sources for hydrogen generation to the geography and renewable sources available in the regions.
After a long round of questions, there was a short networking session, during which the attendees could exchange views and share their projects and concerns in the fields of electromobility and hydrogen.
To learn more about GP Joule, please visit the site: https://www.gp-joule.com/
Fifth Day
The Study Tour concluded with a visit to Ari Motors, an electric vehicles importer, which offers a wide variety of transport vehicle models and operates in many European countries.
Ari Motors imports the vehicles from China, and then replaces most of the original parts with German-made parts during the assembly in Czechia. Its fleet ranges from mopeds to vans, with gel and lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries, a range of up to 495 km, and the possibility of installing solar panels. The nearly 40 participants were able to virtually get to know the vehicles during the tour, and ask technical questions.
After this visit, the Study Tour concluded with a round of feedback and impressions of the projects, during which the participants remarked the importance of this instance for the promotion of industry and technology in Chile, and the advantages of the virtual format.
To know more about Ari Motors, visit the site: https://www.ari-motors.com/en/
This Virtual Tour is organized by AHK Chile and takes place within the framework of the Energy Partnership Chile-Germany, an alliance that seeks to increase energy efficiency, promote a greater use of renewable energy, and transform the energy systems of both countries for the future.
Great opportunity to visit projects, regardless of distance or the pandemic, thanks to the Tour's virtual format.