Fraunhofer Hydrogen Labs

With the establishment and operation of the three Hydrogen Labs at Fraunhofer, a digitally networked infrastructure with test and qualification capacities for the necessary electrolysis and fuel cell systems of over 27 megawatts is being created for the first time. These are test fields for testing the efficiency and durability of the operation of electrolysers in conjunction with renewable energies. This supports the necessary market ramp-up of H2 technologies, which we are accelerating by bundling our hydrogen activities in northern and eastern Germany. The Hydrogen Labs in Leuna, Görlitz and Bremerhaven are digitally linked and cover the entire process from CO2-neutral power generation through offshore and onshore energy production, the optimization of electrolysis and the production of the plants used for this, through to the use, for example, in the chemical industry, storage and transport of green hydrogen.

The Fraunhofer IMWS is contributing its many years of experience and expertise in the characterization and development of materials. The current work is primarily aimed at providing safe materials, components and systems for the hydrogen economy. Since the production and storage of high-purity hydrogen places considerable demands on materials, excellent expertise in material characterization and diagnostics is an important prerequisite. We therefore analyse and characterize materials and components using microstructural methods in particular. This covers the entire process from production (material selection, material development, power electronics), storage (high-pressure tanks) and transportation (pipelines) through to use (sensor components, clarification of ageing effects) and integration into the energy system (techno-economic assessments, feasibility analyses, simulation, system design). 

Hydrogen Lab Bremerhaven:

H2 production (2 MW) and electrolysis operation with wind energy 

Hydrogen Lab Görlitz

Use of H2 in mobile and stationary fuel cells (focus on industrial processes; up to 12 MW)

Hydrogen Lab Leuna

Testing of large-scale electrolysis for green hydrogen (focus on chemical industry; 5 MW)