5th International Conference and Trade Fair on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies, from 31 August to 1 September 

The new initiative is described as a "flagship" project and a "competence cluster". Hamburg is well placed to become one of the leading centres for development of products based on fuel cells. That is the goal declared on establishment of the Hamburg initiative for fuel cell and hydrogen technology at the end of last year, under the leadership of Dr. Michael Freytag, Senator for Urban Development and Environment. Hamburg will present this initiative to the general public for the first time at H2Expo, 5th International Conference and Trade Fair on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies, to be held at CCH-Congress Center Hamburg from 31 August to 1 September 2005.

“Participation of the Hamburg initiative in H2Expo underlines the importance of this event for Hamburg as an industrial location. The H2Expo International Conference and Trade Fair at Hamburg Messe is just the right forum for presentation of the activities of the companies involved in this initiative,” declared Dietmar Aulich, Managing Director of Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH (HMC). “That helps the City of Hamburg and HMC to promote development and marketability of this new technology in Hamburg.”

The initiative comprises some 20 well-known companies, research facilities and institutions, with the goal of establishing close interrelations between research and industry. “Hamburg has a long and distinguished tradition in hydrogen and fuel cell technology,” says Holger Grubel, who is responsible for innovative energy systems at HEW Hamburgische Electricitätswerke. He referred to the numerous pilot projects where the technology is being tested, and the universities conducting research into hydrogen and fuel cell technology. But he also mentioned that so far there was no link between the individual companies and research facilities.

The purpose of the Hamburg Initiative, which presented at a joint stand during the H2Expo, is to remedy this deficit. “We undertake coordination between manufacturers, users and scientists,” said Dr. Sabine Dippner of the Hamburg Department of Urban Development and Environment, which has taken on management responsibility for the Initiative.

One of the users of fuel cell technology is HHA (Hamburg Hochbahn, the public transport company), which has already been using three fuel cell buses from DaimlerChrysler in the framework of the EU-wide CUTE Projects (Clean Urban Transport for Europe). “The Initiative is very important for Hamburg as an industry location, in order to promote this technology even more and to conduct marketing for it”, says Heinrich Klingenberg, Director of Bus Operations at HHA. He added that it was particularly important to concentrate on promotion of the practical application of this technology. Visitors to H2Expo will have an opportunity for a first-hand impression of this technology, taking a trip on one of the fuel cell buses to a hydrogen filling station at the HHA site in the Hummelsbüttel district of Hamburg.

“We have reached a point in development where we are moving from laboratory projects towards marketable products,” notes Holger Grubel. He cites the example of a high-temperature fuel cell developed by MTU, which HEW expects to use for generating power and heat in Hamburg’s new HafenCity development district starting from the end of the year. The concept for this will be presented at H2Expo. And, Grubel added, the Hamburg Initiative could for example bring together developers and users, to move products forward for market launch – “Hamburg could take on a flagship function, with the support of the German government, Europe, and global players such as Airbus and HDW”. 

Progress in fuel cell research will also benefit Alster-Touristik GmbH (ATG), a subsidiary of HHA. “Next year we are expecting to commission a fuel-cell-powered passenger vessel for 100 passengers, in cooperation with Howaldtswerken-Deutsche Werft AG (HDW),” says Heinrich Klingenberg. The lead manager in this project is the HDW subsidiary HDW Fuel Cell Systems (HFCS), based in Kiel. “We are handling the marine engineering side of the Hamburg Initiative,” explains HFCS Product Manager Marc Kickulies. HFCS has extensive experience in the application of fuel cell technology in submarines, now in series production. HFCS will present the “Fuel Cell Passenger Vessel for Alstertouristik” project on display panels at H2Expo.

Linde Gas Deutschland also sees the Hamburg Initiative as an excellent way of advancing development of this technology. “That is a very good framework for cooperation, providing links between users, scientists and our company,” said Christian Tuchel, responsible for application engineering at Linde Gas in Hamburg. The company will present an optimised design of hydrogen tank for passenger cars at the H2Expo. 

The Hamburg Initiative gives outstanding prospects for using synergies, according to Thomas Winkelmann (Diplom-Ingenieur), Product Manager of European Fuel Cell in Hamburg (a subsidiary of the Baxi Group, UK. “There are so many companies,” he says, “which have made a name for themselves in fuel cell research and application.” 
 

“The Hamburg Initiative is an important step for concentrating and focusing the skills in this area,” says Dr. Gerd Würsig, Group Leader for process and fuel cell technology at Germanischer Lloyd, Hamburg. This technical inspection company, which is mainly active in shipping, is one of the founding members of the Hamburg Initiative for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technology. 

The H2Expo, 5th International Conference and Trade Fair on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies, will provide a forum for detailed analysis of hydrogen subjects in the scientific conference on “Fuel Cell Systems for Transportation: Maritime, Aerospace and General Transportation”. Aspects of commercial applications will be addressed by the conference “Introducing Hydrogen Energy Technologies in a Global Market”. The H2Expo will be held at the CCH-Congress Center Hamburg from 31 August to 1 September, from 9am to 5pm each day.