Hydrogen in the city of Bremen – An Overview of 24 Projects, Companies and Initiatives

Company/Institute

1. Airbus and the "Zero Emission development Centre" ZEDC
   With "ZEROe" as its slogan, Airbus is currently developing climate-neutral aircraft which will be ready for series production before 2035. To bring together expertise in the field of hydrogen, the Airbus group has set up two Zero Emission Development Centres (ZEDCs), one in Nantes in France and one in Bremen. The aim of these ZEDCs is to develop hydrogen tank systems for commercial aviation. In this respect, the Bremen Airbus plant benefits from its proximity to the ECOMAT research centre in Airport City (the headquarters of the Bremen group is only a few minutes away by foot).
2. EDAG
   This automobile components supplier has a development and production site in Bremen. The company has also brought together part of its hydrogen-related activities here. In 2018, the hydrogen-powered Mercedes GLC F-Cell vehicle went into small-scale production. Today, EDAG is working on expanding its expertise in this field with the objective of manufacturing in greater numbers. For example, EDAG designs and builds tank systems for many famous manufacturers that plan to add hydrogen drives to their product portfolio.
3. Enginius
   This subsidiary of FAUN, the commercial vehicle manufacturer, is producing hydrogen-powered lorries in Bremen. The first product it brought to market was a dustbin lorry and the company is currently manufacturing other models for regional haulage purposes and special local authority use. The chassis for these vehicles come from major lorry manufacturers. These chassis are then converted, extended and fitted with hydrogen drive technology in Bremen, before receiving their special EU type approval.
4. EVIA AERO
   The first German airline to fly using hydrogen – that's EVIA AERO's achievement. This young company aims to operate in regional aviation and fly to a range of destinations in Northern Europe, using hydrogen-powered aircraft based on the Britten-Norman Islander model. In addition to the 15 aircraft of this type, the company has also ordered 10 more 19-seater planes from Cranfield Aerospace Solutions.
5. SAACKE
   This Bremen-based burner installation and boiler systems manufacturer is the "go-to" component supplier for the hydrogen sector. The company supplied a gas combustion unit and a hydrogen burner for the world's first liquid hydrogen tanker, the Japanese "Suiso Frontier", ensuring safety on board.The company is also active in the automobile industry.
6. Scandiesel
   The Bremen general importer Scandiesel specialises in marine engines and industrial motors. Up to now, its engines have primarily been driven by diesel. However, this may well change in the coming decades. Methanol, produced from hydrogen, is a possible candidate to replace the diesel used in heavy industry. Scandiesel supplies the motors used in this sector and has already been involved in a research project on the first methanol-powered ship in Germany – the Uthörn 2, which is operated by the AWI (the Alfred Wegener Institute). An entire value creation chain is currently developing around and about this ship, involving participants in Bremen and Bremerhaven. For example, it uses local methanol-based tank and bunker technology and, in future, will also involve the production of green methanol.
7. ArianeGroup and OHB aerospace groups
   The two heavyweights, ArianeGroup and OHB, are an important element of the Bremen H2 network. This is because they already have decades of experience in the commercial use of hydrogen, even though it's been to power for rockets and the fuel cells used in satellites. For more than 40 years, the ArianeGroup in Bremen has been a trailblazer for the use of hydrogen in aeronautics. The upper stages of the ARIANE 5 and 6 launch vehicles were powered by cryogenic liquid hydrogen. The experiences gained from this expertise in systems, added to the increase in performance of ARIANE's upper stage, are now being put to good use in the rapid development of emission-free aviation. A number of cooperative ventures, driven forward by a partnership involving Airbus, DLR, IFAM and FIBRE, in Bremen, are currently working on developing cryogenic hydrogen tanks made from fibre composite materials. These projects make effective use of the powerful synergies they create between application areas in the aviation and aeronautics industries, and result in even greater efficiencies in the materials used. Also closely connected with these activities is OHB, the Bremen-based aerospace group, whose subsidiary, MT Aerospace, manufactures systems and modules for launch vehicles, space vehicles and satellites. The company is currently working on tank systems, among other things, with the Ariane group, which has overall organisational management responsibility. The expertise in hydrogen application of Bremen's aerospace network is now becoming important for aviation.
8. ArcelorMittal
   Hydrogen has been used in steel manufacturing for quite some time. For example, the Bremen ArcelorMittal steel plant is already using grey hydrogen, among other things as an inert gas, and is the largest user of hydrogen in the Federal State of Bremen. To prepare for the future, the company is now working on also using green hydrogen and is involved in a range of projects with this goal in mind (see below).
9.  swb
   swb, the Bremen-based energy supplier, working together with the company INGAVER Innovative Gasverwertungs-GmbH, is especially closely involved in providing power for the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Bremen and therefore also in the future supply of hydrogen. One of its primary objectives is the construction and operation of large-scale electrolysers (see also Projects).
10. Bremen's scientific environment
    Universities, technical universities and institutes: a wealth of people in Bremen's scientific communities are actively involved with hydrogen. For example, the City University of Applied Sciences has study courses and applied research that are involved in many aspects of hydrogen. It has close links to many major companies and participates in the ECOMAT technology centre. The University uses its technical expertise in its involvement with the green hydrogen value creation chain: Practical research projects and study courses cover almost every imaginable aspect of "hydrogen", from H2 electrolysis, transport, port logistics and infrastructure to applications such as aviation, aerospace or maritime transport, through to commercial, ecological life cycle and sociological sustainability analyses. Scientists taking a range of degree courses, working in the specialist areas of environmental and energy technology, aviation and aerospace, ship-building, nautical science, logistics, politics and social sciences, electrical power and control engineering, computer science/AI or economics help the specialist staff of the future to gain insights into areas in which H2 can be used during their degree courses and work together with industrial partners to discover solutions for the H2 economy.
    ECOMAT is an inter-disciplinary research centre with the focus on carbon-neutral flight. It brings together a multitude of Bremen's areas of expertise, from aviation and aerospace, material sciences and IT technology and has a workforce of around 500 scientists. When it comes to hydrogen, research into, and the development of, hydrogen tank systems and new materials for aviation play central roles at ECOMAT.
    Its partners include many of Bremen's scientific institutes such as:
    - BIAS – Bremen Institute for Applied Beam Technology
    - German Aerospace Center
    - Faserinstitut Bremen e.V. (FIBRE)
    - Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM
    - Foundation Institute of Materials Engineering - IWT
    are represented at ECOMAT with their hydrogen research endeavours and are also involved with their own projects.