Hydrogen buses for Weimar

The municipal utility company Stadtwerke Stadtversorgungs-GmbH Weimar (SW), Thuringian Energy AG (TEAG), Stadtwirtschaft Weimar GmbH, and Bauhaus University Weimar are launching the joint project "green hydrogen for public transport in Weimar," which is subsidized by the Thuringian Ministry of Energy with 3 million euros.

The H2 mobility project in Weimar is the first cooperation of municipal utility companies in Thuringia in terms of hydrogen infrastructure.

"With top speed out of expensive fossil fuels, into clean innovative technology and renewable energies from the region. That is the right way. Here, as everywhere in Thuringia, it's about emission-free and climate-friendly public transport. That is good for the environment and good for the people in the city and the countryside," said Thuringia's Minister of Energy Anja Siegesmund at the handover of the funding notice last Tuesday (March 29).

Another funding notice from the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure amounting to 1.25 million euros for the construction of the hydrogen electrolyzer is already available.

The Planning

The signed letter of intent stipulates that the hydrogen electrolyzer and an H2 filling station will be built on the premises of SW Weimar on Industriestraße. The electrolyzer will be operated exclusively with green electricity to subsequently produce green hydrogen. For the generation of green electricity, TEAG also plans to build a photovoltaic plant on the premises of SW Weimar. Additionally, the waste heat from the electrolysis process is to be used to reduce the use of fossil fuels for local heat production.

For the municipal utility company Weimar, entering hydrogen-based mobility is a first step towards detaching from petroleum- or mineral oil-based drive concepts of fossil origin.

"We want to see how the requirements for vehicles in the public transport fleet and municipal operations can be met with hydrogen as an energy source," said Jörn Otto, Managing Director of SW Weimar. "In the long term, entire fleets could then be operated with explicitly green hydrogen."

For TEAG's spokesperson Stefan Reindl, green hydrogen is the energy carrier of the future, which can solve the problem of the lack of storage options for eco-power. In addition, the so-called sector coupling works excellently with hydrogen.

"Here in Weimar, we are installing a mobility solution for municipal urban transport with our H2 project. However, hydrogen can also be used in heat production for housing, power generation, or as process energy in the economy," said Reindl.

Moreover, hydrogen is currently a way to reduce medium-term energy imports, especially from Russia, according to TEAG’s spokesperson.

Scientific Support from Bauhaus University Weimar

Bauhaus University is contributing its expertise, among other things, in the laboratory simulation of the electrolyzer's operation. A collaboration in the field of environmentally friendly mobility has existed with the Weimar University for some time. The expansion of the municipal charging network for e-mobiles in Thuringia has been based on traffic flow planning by Bauhaus University experts since 2017.

What does this mean?

Although many companies and even train manufacturers have rejected the issue of hydrogen, the time to move away from "fossils" is more urgent than ever, which is why the project in Weimar is an exciting approach!