The Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub (HGHH) plans to build a new 105-MW hydrogen plant on the site of the former Moorburg coal-fired power plant by 2027. The site will use wind and solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, thereby producing green hydrogen for a wide range of applications such as steel, chemicals, logistics, and transportation.
The German company Kraftanlagen Energies & Services has been commissioned to build the infrastructure around the electrolyzer. Kraftanlagen, in turn, has entrusted Hoerbiger with the delivery of three HCP 500 hydrogen compressor packages, which ensure safe, reliable, and cost-effective hydrogen compression for large-scale hydrogen applications such as trailer filling. According to Hoerbiger, users benefit from a compact design, fast filling capacities, and a high degree of standardization, making the HCP 500 optimized for the lowest total cost of ownership.
A Flexible Solution For High Mass Flow Hydrogen Compression
By featuring the KBH compressor by Ariel Corp., the HCP 500 achieves a high mass flow of over 551 pounds/hour (250 kg/h), making the compressor package a worthy solution for trailer filling facilities and heavy-duty refueling stations for stationary and intermittent operating conditions.
The compressor package features components such as CP valves and sealing elements that guarantee high durability and availability, according to Hoerbiger. The package also includes the Electric Stepless Capacity Control System – eHydroCOM, which offers unique controllability of the compressor flow rates in terms of efficiency and precision. The eHydroCOM allows a large operating window for the compressor, which improves alignment with the requirements of the electrolyzers and the attached trailer filling application.
A Perfect Partnership
In 2022, Hoerbiger teamed up with Ariel to address the growing need for high-volume, high-pressure hydrogen fueling technology for heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks, trains, buses, and ships (see “Advancing Hydrogen Compression,” September 2022 Gas Compression Magazine, p. 60). The partnership focused on the development and commercialization of large compression equipment for hydrogen fuel stations and hydrogen trailer filling applications.
The Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub showcases the partnership in action, enabling Hoerbiger to provide packaged compressor solutions as a component of high volume/high-pressure fueling facilities using any source of hydrogen. For Ariel, the partnership has improved its position as a supplier to the hydrogen economy, enabling it to leverage technical advancements to expand non-lube product offerings to core markets. Customers are benefiting from purpose-built solutions that are tailor-made to the very specific requirements of the hydrogen industry.
Prior to the partnership formation three years ago, Hoerbiger and Ariel worked together by leveraging their combined research, development, design, material sciences, manufacturing, and assembly capabilities.
Expanding The European Hydrogen Economy
The project supports Hamburg’s climate plan to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) by 70% by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels). Hamburg is one of Europe’s busiest ports, making it a hotbed for a hydrogen ecosystem that can decarbonize high emission industries like shipping, aviation, trucking, and heavy industries.
The Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub is designed as a stop along the wide European Hydrogen Backbone, which is a massive pipeline network for transporting hydrogen across borders. The interconnected system has several advantages, especially for supply chains.
As the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub scales from 100 MW up to an 800 MW target, it can import renewable energy from nearly production sources, such as offshore wind farms in the North Sea. From there, it can produce more renewable hydrogen and export supply that isn’t consumed locally to nearly European Union countries.
The European Hydrogen Backbone builds on the US$3.21 billion Hydrogen Core Network, which was approved in 2024 (see “Hydrogen Report: European Commission Approves US$3.21 Billion German Hydrogen Plan For Long-Distance Transport Pipelines,” August 2024 Gas Compression Magazine, p. 20). The core network of pipelines will transport hydrogen to accelerate the green transition through an influx of hydrogen production and consumption (see “Hydrogen Report: SoutH2 Corridor Gains Momentum,” July 2024 Gas Compression Magazine, p. 34).
By delivering industrial-grade, high-capacity solutions, Hoerbiger and Ariel are helping hydrogen move from concept to commercial reality.
