H2 MOBILITY News, Oldenburg, 16.06.2023 | H2 MOBILITY Germany, together with EWE and Bremer Mineralölhandel (BMÖ), today put the Oldenburg hydrogen filling station into operation – in the presence of Lord Mayor Jürgen Krogmann.
The Oldenburg hydrogen filling station, at the Shell filling station at Cloppenburger Str. 154, is conveniently located close to the A28 and A29 motorways as an important stop on the way to the Jade Bay and the North Sea coast. At the station, not only hydrogen cars and commercial vehicles, including two H2 waste collection vehicles of the waste management company of the city of Oldenburg (AWB) or cabs of Acht-Elf-Elf, can refuel at 700 bar, but also, thanks to the participation of the energy company EWE, four hydrogen buses of the VWG, which are subsidized by the state of Lower Saxony, at 350 bar. The HRS Oldenburg is thus one of the first hydrogen refueling stations for combined car and commercial vehicle refueling in Germany and the first in the northwest to connect the metropolitan regions of Groningen, Hamburg Berlin and Münster. The hydrogen filling station is now also available for use by the public.
Mayor Jürgen Krogmann: “I am very pleased that with the opening of the filling station the age of hydrogen mobility in Oldenburg now officially starts and becomes visible for many people. The operation of the H2 station is a building block for the traffic turnaround. The city has already ensured at an early stage that the procurement of hydrogen buses via the VWG and of waste collection vehicles via our waste management company will stimulate the demand for hydrogen refueling. I would also like to expressly thank the city council for supporting this technology of the future. Together with EWE, we have thus made a decisive contribution to bringing together infrastructure and market demand. I hope that the hydrogen filling station will provide an initial spark to drive the switch to sustainable and climate-friendly mobility.”
The company responsible for construction and operations is H2 MOBILITY Deutschland, which is playing a key role in driving forward the expansion of the hydrogen infrastructure in Germany. The plant holds around 400 kilograms of hydrogen and is state of the art.
Hydrogen is used to refuel electric vehicles with fuel cells. The advantages are: no noise, no pollutants, but the same use, speed and range as conventional vehicles.
Lorenz Jung, spokesman for the managing directors of H2 MOBILITY Germany: “Hydrogen is the ideal clean fuel for vehicles in continuous use – for cabs, refuse collectors or buses, as well as for heavy vehicles such as trucks. Refueling takes just a few minutes, the ranges are suitable for everyday use, and multi-shift operation can be implemented at any time. Because, in effect, you’re refueling with hydrogen at megawatt speeds.”
“This filling station opens up the possibility for Oldenburg and the region to increasingly rely on e-mobility based on hydrogen in addition to battery-electric propulsion when it comes to the topic of traffic transformation,” says Tobias Moldenhauer, head of hydrogen at EWE. According to him, further hydrogen filling stations are being built in the Northwest Metropolitan Region as part of the Hyways for Future project.
The hydrogen filling station network in Germany
Fuel cell drivers can currently refuel cars, light commercial vehicles and e.g. refuse collectors at 700 bar at over 90 public hydrogen filling stations in Germany. At many stations, it is also possible to refuel buses and trucks at 350 bar. H2 MOBILITY Germany is further expanding the hydrogen refueling station infrastructure in focus regions and along the TEN-T corridors in line with demand. In addition, existing 700-bar hydrogen refueling stations will be expanded in the short term to include a 350-bar offering.