germany

The sales of fuel cell hydrogen vehicles will dominate sales of battery EVs, according to the director of Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE).

Professor Eicke Weber told the World of Energy Solutions conference in Stuttgart, Germany, battery-powered vehicles will still play an important role in the e-mobility sector, but hydrogen cars will have the larger sales in the future.

Germany’s automotive supplier Continental has launched enhanced flooded batteries (EFB) and absorbent glass mat (AGM) lead-acid batteries through its VDO brand.

The batteries are developed for vehicles with start-stop systems. The VDO battery portfolio includes nine different EFB and AGM batteries, targeted at the central European market.

Uninterruptible power supply provider AEG Power Solutions (AEG) has launched a modular DC process power supply system for industrial applications with high power demands.

AEG ‘s Thyrobox DC-3 power supply system is designed on the base of the B12-IGBT-chopper technology and has a modular structure. The smallest Thyrobox DC-3 has an output power of 1,500A and can be modularly expanded to 30,000A.

According to Germany’s AEG, load voltages from 20V up to 500V can be achieved with the new product. The system also allows a configuration with redundant modules. The Thyrobox DC-3 operates so that more power modules can be upgraded by parallel connection to an existing DC system.

Due to a high load current and load voltage with a small output as well as an optimised supply network load over the control range, the DC system has a high power factor, claimed the company.

The DC system can be connected to a low or medium voltage grid. Separate power transformer and secondary side wiring with bus bars or cables are optional.

The product was developed at the company's competence centre in Warstein, Germany, where it will also be produced.

MTU Onsite Energy (MTU) has received certification for its series 4000 gas gensets to be compliant with Germany's medium-voltage directive.

The certification issued by Germany’s Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry enables the gas generators to feed generated power into the public grid.

The series 4000 has a power output from 750kW to 2,600kW. According to MTU, the gensets achieve up to 44.3% electrical efficiency.

“Being armed with this certificate puts us in a very strong position on the market for gas gensets,” said Jörg Mielke, head of sales in Germany at MTU. MTU modified the gensets to meet the certification requirements.

Germany’s Renewable Energy Act and the Combined Heat and Power Act has led to an explosion in distributed power generation. MTU aims to provide static and dynamic grid support with the supply of reactive power or automatic reduction output as well as with its combined heat and power and biogas plants.

FuelCell Energy Solutions (FCEL) and partner Fraunhofer Institute have received €4.9m ($6.6m) in funding from the German government for stationary fuel cell research.

The three-year research and development project is aimed at enhancing FCEL’s fuel cell technology by increasing the power output of the fuel stack as well as extending operating life and lowering the costs. The research will take place at FCEL’s facility in Ottobrunn and Frauenhofer’s facility in Dresden, Germany.

The awards were given by German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

"With the support of various government organizations, strategic partners and private industry, product, performance and system enhancements continue on our proprietary fuel cell technology and are now being performed on three continents. This validates the global interest in our power and hydrogen generation solutions that enhance the resiliency of power distribution in an ultra-clean and affordable manner, " said Chip Bottone, president and chief executive officer of FCEL.

FCLE’s fuel cell stationary power plants utilise carbonate fuel cell technology and provide continuous baseload power located where the power is used, including both on-site applications and electric grid support.