Jet H2 Energy, the 50:50 joint venture of H2 Energy Europe and filling station operator Phillips 66, has announced plans to build its first 10 hydrogen refuelling stations in Germany and Denmark. The stations will provide gaseous green hydrogen at 350 and 700 bar to cars, light and heavy commercial vehicles, and buses. Jet H2 Energy plans to build a total of 250 public hydrogen refuelling stations in Germany, Austria, and Denmark.
Initial orders for the fuelling station components have been placed, and construction has already begun. The stations should go into operation by spring 2024 at the latest. Although most of the stations will be newly built, some will be the expansion of existing conventional Jet fueling stations.
Jet H2 Energy has not specified the locations in the announcement, but the technology for the refuelling stations will come from German manufacturer Maximator Hydrogen, which produces its hydrogen refuelling systems in Nordhausen. The two companies have signed a framework agreement, although the details are not known.
Maximator Hydrogen works with Bosch Rexroth for the compression of hydrogen in the refuelling stations. The agreement between the two companies provides for the technology to be made available for 4,000 hydrogen filling stations by 2030. The partners now have a customer for at least 10 of them.
The fact that Jet H2 Energy emphasises the refuelling stations will be designed for both 350 and 700 bar is interesting. The much more robust and less expensive 350-bar technology is most common in heavy-duty commercial vehicles. The more expensive 700-bar system with higher energy density is installed in fuel cell passenger cars, where space for cylindrical pressure tanks is limited. However, since 700-bar technology is more expensive and maintenance-intensive in refuelling stations, and most sales come from heavy-duty 350-bar vehicles, other operators focus primarily on 350-bar stations.
Olaf Borbor, CEO of Jet H2 Energy, says, “We are pleased to have reached the next major milestone in the development of hydrogen ecosystems in Germany, Denmark, and Austria. The partnership with Maximator Hydrogen allows us to grow quickly and efficiently for the next few years.”
