Lhyfe and Deutsche Bahn are cooperating to fuel climate-neutral trains with green hydrogen. Specialist energy production company Lhyfe has built a hydrogen production plant for DB Energie’s Tübingen innovation hub. The facility will produce up to 30 tons of green hydrogen per year. That corresponds to one megawatt of installed electrolysis capacity.
German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn has been at the forefront of environmental initiatives. Their subsidiary, DB Energie, is a company specifically set up to work on decarbonisation in the rail industry. This primarily includes the expansion of the green electricity portfolio, infrastructure for alternative drive systems on non-electrified routes, and electromobility.
Green hydrogen production plant
DB Energie’s Tübingen innovation hub, near Stuttgart, is the first site to be installed and operated by Lhyfe. At the innovation hub, DB Energie is testing new technologies for sustainable rail energy supply, including their ‘H2goesRail’ project.
Lhyfe claims to be a global pioneer in the production of green and renewable hydrogen. The Frankfurt company has built and will operate a green hydrogen production plant for Deutsche Bahn in Tübingen. The electrolysis plant, at the innovation hub of DB Energie. The green electricity required to run the plant comes from Deutsche Bahn’s green electricity portfolio. DB is not alone in going for hydrogen, but this project ticks almost all of the ecological boxes at once.
Commissioning of the system is complex
Using the green hydrogen produced, a climate-neutral hydrogen train will be put into operation later this year on a test route between Tübingen, Horb and Pforzheim in Baden-Württemberg. “This project demonstrates the economic viability of hydrogen solutions in the transport and mobility sector,” said Luc Graré, head of Central and Eastern Europe at Lhyfe. “Sustainable energy sources and innovative technologies are needed to decarbonise the transport sector. The H2goesRail project is a pioneer in the field of passenger and freight transportation.”
Lhyfe wants to gain experience towards a largely autonomously operated hydrogen fuel system. Eventually, the plan is to connect hydrogen production with a large-scale filling station. The commissioning of the system is complex. It requires production, compression, storage and refuelling. Lhyfe says it is taking on the challenge with Deutsche Bahn to perfect the system commercially for DB and subsequent customers. Lhyfe aims to become a major player in the mobility and industry sector.
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