H2Giga - QT 4.2 FertiRob Project

With the „H2Giga – Qt 4.2 FertiRob“ project, it was possible for the first time to acquire a funded research project spanning the locations of Fulda, Bremen and Hamburg. With the help of the project partners in the consortium, a modular production plant for hydrogen electrolysers in the gigawatt range is to be designed, developed and functionally tested. For this purpose, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is taking over the funding program of the hydrogen lead projects. In the research project, fully automated technologies that are firmly anchored in modern production plants will be further developed both in the area of laser, conveying and stacking technology as well as in the area of testing systems and digital innovations for the production of complex hydrogen electrolysers in the gigawatt range.

Hydrogen lead projects: Hydrogen plays a central role in the context of the energy transition. For the implementation of the national hydrogen strategy, the BMBF has created three lead projects as Germany´s entry into the hydrogen economy. The lead project are divided as follows: H2Giga: Serial production of hydrogen electrolysers H2Mare: Production of hydrogen and its downstream products at sea using wind power TransHyDe: Development, evaluation & demonstration of hydrogen transport technologies. (Source: www.wasserstoff-leitprojekte.de/leitprojekte)

The demand for green hydrogen is steadily increasing. Existing electrolysers available on the market will no longer be able to cover the necessary capacities in the future. Furthermore, the production of these electrolysers is generally done manually. Therefore, the lead project H2Giga deals with the development of a series production of efficient, durable and cost-effective electrolysers in the gigawatt range. In this context, an electrolyzer describes a unit that uses electric current to cause a material conversion or cleavage of chemical compounds. In the case of hydrogen electrolysis, this explicitly means splitting water into its components hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen electrolysis is based on various electrolysis technologies, which are suitable for different applications and fields of use. The task of H2Giga is to advance the individual electrolysis technologies and their scaling, as well as to develop technologies for production, lifetime enhancement and recycling. The following electrolysis technologies are being further researched in the H2Giga hydrogen lead project: PEM-electrolysis (Proton Exchange Membrane) alkaline electrolysis (AEL) high temperature electrolysis (HTEL). Electrolysis with anion conducting membrane (AEM) (Source: www.wasserstoff-leitprojekte.de/leitprojekte/h2giga)

The H2Giga flagship project consists of approximately 30 independent joint ventures with over 130 project partners from industry, SMEs, start-ups and research institutions. The total funding amounts to approx. 480 million € distributed over a total period of four years. DECHEMA e.V. manages and coordinates the network and the electrolysis technology platform, which is divided into three clusters, in order to ensure the overall communication between the individual project partners and alliances. In the cluster "Scale-up: Technologies for series production", electrolyser manufacturers aim to further develop their established electrolysis processes and make them suitable for large-scale production. The cluster „Next Generation Scale-up: Upscaling the latest processes“ deals, among other things, with the further development and testing of future, innovative and promising electrolysis processes and the reduction of manufacturing costs through electrolyzer designs tailored to requirements and production. The cluster „Innovation Pool: Closing Knowledge Gaps“ communicates the needs from industry directly to science and works on topics in the field of materials research, recycling, digitalization, electrolyzer lifetime, manufacturing and interface technologies. Source: www.wasserstoff-leitprojekte.de/leitprojekte/h2giga)

The cross-cutting topic QT 4.2 – FertiRob deals with automation solutions for the various sub-problems in the production, assembly and disassembly of stacks and electrolysers. The aim is to significantly reduce the manual effort required for the engineering of production facilities for the manufacture of electrolyzers. The modular production plant to be developed should be efficient and flexible to use, easily scalable and automatically generated. The aim is to combine optimized production technologies into a complete plant and to guarentee high-quality electrolyser production.

The project consortium in QT 4.2 FertiRob consists of a total of 16 project partners from industrial and research institutions with different fields of expertise. These are bundled in individual working groups in order to successfully work on the diverse fields of innovation and their challenges in manufacturing and robotics.

FFT relies on good cooperation to bring together and expand the experience already gained and the existing expert knowledge, and to create a uniform transfer of knowledge within FertiRob. The FFT locations and innovation centers Fulda, Bremen and Hamburg are represented in the research project and will contribute and further develop their expertise of the respective business fields. The tasks are subdivided into automation, production and stacking technology at the Fulda site. Hydrogen technologies, in-line and end-of-line testing at the Bremen and Hamburg sites.

Source: https://www.wasserstoff-leitprojekte.de/leitprojekte/h2giga