Symbolic Groundbreaking for Hydrogen Production Facility and Hydrogen Refueling Station
Under the umbrella of HY.City.Bremerhaven GmbH Co. KG, we are developing a regional green hydrogen ecosystem in Bremerhaven with additional partners.
The construction start for the Climate City’s flagship project was celebrated with a symbolic groundbreaking on April 20. In addition to the shareholders of HY.City.Bremerhaven, Bremerhaven’s Mayor Melf Grantz and other political and municipal representatives participated in the festive event. The completion of the two project sites is planned for the coming summer.
The construction of the 2-megawatt hydrogen production facility at Grauwallring and the building of the public refueling station at the “Zur Hexenbrücke” location mark important milestones in the realization of the regional green hydrogen project in Bremerhaven, for which implementation HY.City.Bremerhaven GmbH Co. KG was specifically founded. This pioneering work will create a local hydrogen ecosystem in Bremerhaven and provide climate-neutral fuel for the transport sector.
The groundbreaking for the planned hydrogen refueling station in Bremerhaven is not just a symbolic act, but also an important step towards emission-free mobility and a sustainable future. Together with regional partners, we are building a green hydrogen infrastructure and creating the conditions to refuel with 100% green and regionally produced hydrogen – for a livable future and a healthy environment.
The public hydrogen refueling station next to the BremerhavenBus operating site will be directly supplied with sufficient green hydrogen from the production facility at Grauwallring using mobile storage. In the future, cars, trucks, and buses will be able to refuel with regional hydrogen at the 350 bar and 700 bar dispensers. “The refueling station offers our city and the surrounding area an excellent opportunity to facilitate the transition to hydrogen for private and commercial use. This attractive offer expands Bremerhaven’s climate-friendly strategy and demonstrates that green hydrogen will soon be produced locally through wind turbines,” said Sönke Allers, SPD parliamentary group chairman of the Bremerhaven City Council, expressing his delight at the start of construction.
Initially, seven hydrogen buses in Bremerhaven’s local transport are planned as fixed consumers of the regionally produced hydrogen. Three of these have already been operated by BremerhavenBus since the end of 2022. In the next step, the number of buses is set to increase to at least ten. The capacity of the planned electrolysis plant is sufficient for daily refueling of up to 34 buses.
“After the launch of hydrogen buses at BremerhavenBus in December 2022, another important milestone in the use of hydrogen is being created in Bremerhaven. With the new hydrogen refueling station, a large market for mobility opens up for private and commercial users of hydrogen vehicles,” noted Thorsten Raschen, parliamentary group chairman of the Bremerhaven City Council. And Prof. Dr. Hauke Hilz, deputy parliamentary group chairman of the Bremen Parliament, agreed: “I am very pleased that with the hydrogen refueling station, we are making an offer to the people in Bremerhaven and at the same time ensuring the supply for the hydrogen buses. Hydrogen mobility is now possible for everyone.”
The electricity required for hydrogen production is generated by wind energy plants in the Speckenbüttel industrial area. The hydrogen buses, which will be used by BremerhavenBus in regular service in the future, therefore operate CO2-neutrally. Moreover, with the same range and similarly short refueling time, they are significantly quieter than vehicles with combustion engines. Their use not only improves the climate balance of public transport in Bremerhaven but also ensures overall better air quality and less traffic noise in the city.
“With our partners and support from politics and administration, we are now moving further into the implementation phase,” Andreas Wellbrock, Managing Director of Hy.City.Bremerhaven and Green Fuels GmbH, was also pleased to say. “With this, we are realizing the development of the hydrogen ecosystem in Bremerhaven as an important milestone for a climate-neutral transport sector. Further projects will follow from this one, some of which we are already working on, and Bremerhaven will gain importance nationwide as a beacon of the hydrogen economy.”
Management, shareholders, and representatives from politics came to Bremerhaven on February 20 for the festive opening of the H2 refueling station
About HY.City.Bremerhaven
From summer 2023, hydrogen will be produced for public transport in Bremerhaven. For this purpose, HY.City.Bremerhaven GmbH Co. KG is constructing and operating an electrolysis plant with a capacity of 2 megawatts and a public hydrogen filling station in front of the depot of Bremerhaven Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft GmbH (Bremerhaven Bus). The founders and main shareholders are GP JOULE and the Bremerhaven start-up Green Fuels. Other shareholders include BremerhavenBus, UTG Unabhängige Tanklogistik, Georg Grube Verwaltung, the Seier Group, and the Diersch Schröder Group, who are thus jointly and proactively committed to the emerging hydrogen economy.
