With new installations for transport networks in Cottbus, Germany and in Vienna, Austria, hydrogen filling stations made by Maximator Hydrogen, a company of the Schmidt Kranz Group, are gaining in prominence across Europe. Cottbusverkehr GmbH, in collaboration with Maximator Hydrogen and MoviaTec, plan to construction a pioneering hydrogen filling station with electrolysis that will set Cottbus’s public transport system in eastern Germany on the road to the energy transition. In Vienna, a new re-fueling station for light and heavy commercial vehicles has opened, adding to existing hydrogen infrastructure.
The innovative facility in Cottbus is part of a model project initiated by Cottbusverkehr public transport system and energy company LEAG to promote emission-free mobility in the region. A high-performance H2 filling station with electrolysis is being built at the Cottbusverkehr depot to produce green hydrogen, which will be used to refuel eleven future hydrogen-powered zero-emission buses.
The transport company has awarded the contract for the refueling infrastructure to planning company MoviaTec from Leipzig and to Maximator. Together, they are expected to build a modern hydrogen filling station in conjunction with an electrolysis plant for supply at the Cottbusverkehr GmbH site by mid-2025.
Powerful technology for supplying the H2 fleet
The station will be equipped with the latest technology from Maximator to enable standard refueling at 350 bar for buses, but also at 700 bar if required. The right equipment is needed to fully and efficiently utilize the 1 MW of electrolysis power for the bus fleet of initially eleven vehicles. The system will use the company’s MAX Dispenser 1.5 and its MAX Compression System 2.0 with 75 kW drive which is the latest generation of Maximator Hydrogen’s compressor system. The high performance of the piston-driven compressor system is necessary in order to effectively provide the hydrogen produced from the electrolysis for the requirements of the buses to be used.
Supplemented by a large storage system with a storage volume of approx. 500 bar and 35,100 liters, it will be possible to pre-produce compressed hydrogen on certain days for other days with high traffic volumes. The green hydrogen thus also serves as a storage medium for the surplus wind and solar power generated by LEAG.
In addition to a remote connection to control production and monitoring for the operator and service desk, the system also includes a patented solution for the system’s most stressed components, the hydrogen seals. With the Automatic Seal Exchange, the worn seals in the piston are replaced by spare seals from a reserve magazine. This reduces downtimes and maintenance work, thus ensuring the performance and availability of the system.
In Vienna, Maximator and Wiener Wasserstoff GmbH have jointly launched a pioneering project that will sustainably shape the future of local transport there. In April, the partners opened a hydrogen refueling station at Erdbergstrasse 238. Wiener Wasserstoff GmbH is part of the Wiener Stadtwerke Group and, together with Wien Energie, Wiener Linien and Wiener Netzen, has been pursuing the goal of exploiting the potential of hydrogen for Vienna and offering a fully integrated hydrogen solution since its foundation in 2020.
Linda Kirchberger and Helmut Meixner, Managing Directors of Wiener Wasserstoff GmbH, emphasize the importance of the project for the goal “Vienna climate-neutral by 2040” and underline: “It takes strong technology partners like Maximator Hydrogen GmbH and the other participating partners of the Schmidt Kranz Group to bring our plans to life and reduce CO2 emissions on a daily basis.” Schmidt Kranz Group is a fourth generation family business with a focus on hydrogen, high-pressure technology, automation, mining and raw material processing. Hydrogen applications include filling stations, test stands and electrolysis.
Sister company FEST GmbH is also on board for the Vienna project, supplying the electrolyzer that produces the hydrogen. The implementation of the hydrogen refueling station thus continues the success story that began with the opening of the first H2 refueling station in Vienna Leopoldau in 2021. Over 1,000 refueling operations have already taken place at this facility and vehicles with pressures of 350 and 700 bar have been supplied with over five tons of hydrogen.
Vehicle refueling and trailer filling
The new facility is also designed for refueling these pressure ranges for both light and heavy commercial vehicles. A trailer filling system can fill two trailers simultaneously. Wien Energie’s hydrogen customers, such as Wiener Linien, Municipal Department 48 (waste management; refuse collection vehicles) and IKEA, are already using the station.
“We are delighted that our technologies are being put into practice and see Wiener Wasserstoff as an important pioneer for the Wiener Stadtwerke Group, which is tackling the implementation of climate targets with a hands-on mentality. We need concrete projects like this,” emphasized René Himmelstein, CSO and Co-Founder of Maximator Hydrogen, at the opening ceremony.
“We are delighted to be implementing our team’s latest hydrogen expertise in our immediate neighborhood and thus helping to shape emission-free and sustainable local transport in our own city,” commented Robert Adler, Managing Director of Maximator Advanced Technology, which has its headquarters just a few blocks away in Vienna. Maximator Hydrogen and Maximator Advanced Technology (MAT), as a think tank in the field of hydrogen, work closely together on development projects. MAT was founded in 2017 and is also part of the Schmidt Kranz Group. For more info, see www.maximator-hydrogen.de, www.fest-group.de and www.sk-group.com.
