The stuff of climate-neutral power
Bosch enters the hydrogen-production market as supplier. How the first electrolysis stacks are leaving the Bamberg plant and are unveiled at Hannover Messe.
The megawatt-grade innovation
This is the story of a megawatt-grade Bosch innovation for producing the world’s lightest molecule. And it’s the story of the woman helping to bring it to market: for Christina Krick Calderon, a 38-year-old with a PhD in chemistry and the project lead delivering the technology to the first customers, it’s an exciting time. Her eyes light up and her tone conveys a certain urgency: “Things are moving at last. This is a pretty cool time to be at Bosch.” What she’s referring to as “cool” is the entry into the market for the industrial production of hydrogen. The lightest element on the periodic table, hydrogen also has a central role to play in the generation of climate-neutral power. It’s obtained from water by electrolysis, and that’s precisely where Bosch’s core component comes in — the stack. Featuring an output of 1.25 megawatts, these powerhouses are being manufactured at the Bosch plant in Bamberg, Germany, and are to make their debut at Hannover Messe in collaboration with the plant engineering company FEST from Goslar in Germany, one of the first customers. Krick Calderon heads up the project. She coordinates technical matters and deadlines between Bamberg, Goslar, and Hannover.
The project manager has been involved in all sorts of work at Bosch – basic research, marketing, the development of an early warning system for forest fires, and now the new venture for industrial-scale hydrogen electrolysis. “There are thousands of different things you can do in this company. It never gets boring,” Christina Krick Calderon says. Walking with her through the Bamberg plant, it’s striking how well she seems to know everybody. And it’s not just a matter of a quick hello: conversation quickly turns to one of the many aspects of the project – services, logistics, a new measuring tool. She’s quick with answers, too – and not just because she is a trained chemist. “My job’s fun because it makes sense,” she says. “We’re fighting to create new jobs in a new business. And not least, we’re fighting against climate change.”
Production in Bamberg: “Let’s stack together”
The mood in Bamberg is just as driven. Here, wafer-thin layers are assembled to create stacks one-and-a-half meters high. Outside, a motivational poster jokes “Let’s stack together!” alluding to the Bryan Ferry rock anthem. Inside, it’s all focus as each individual layer is positioned with utmost precision — to a tolerance of 0.2 millimeters. The layers form cells, and more than 100 cells form a stack.
Monitored by an image-processing system, each and every step meets Bosch quality standards. The heart of each cell is a polymer — a proton exchange membrane placed between anode and cathode. When an electrical current is passed through it, it splits water into its component parts. The oxygen stays at the anode, while the hydrogen protons pass through the membrane to the cathode. A single 1.25-megawatt stack can produce some 550 kilograms of hydrogen a day — enough to power a 40-ton fuel-cell truck for nearly 7,000 kilometers.
Ensuring a successful chemical reaction is not least the job of the 26 threaded rods that encage the stack. These stud bolts have to be tightened with precision to ensure the cells are packed together at the required level of density. In practice, that means that all 26 rods have to be tightened uniformly — with a torque of 2,700 kilonewtons, equivalent to the weight of 30 elephants. But how can such a huge amount of torque be evenly applied to so many rods? In Bamberg, they have come up with a special-purpose hydraulic tool. It is the result of a team effort they call “simultaneous engineering,” involving manufacturing specialists and purchase officers as well as product developers and process engineers.
“In any construction, threaded connections like these are usually underestimated,” says Peter Keck, who is responsible for manufacturing processes in the plant. He knows what he’s talking about. He was able to draw on his experience in the tried and tested manufacture of diesel injectors to develop solutions for the new world of electrolysis stacks. “Similarly for those injectors,” he says, “in Bamberg we developed a process for tightening nozzle-retaining nuts so firmly that they could withstand a pressure of 2,700 bar. We have a lot of expertise in our plant that we can draw on in a variety of contexts — whether for hydrogen powertrains or, indeed, for the industrial-scale production of hydrogen.” He exudes a sense of confidence — confidence that, in Bamberg, grew with the success of diesel systems. And he also feels capable of taking on the challenge of entering the hydrogen business. The specialists in Bamberg excel in the manufacture of injection technology, and now they want to reach the same level of excellence with stack production.
With know-how transfer to competitive hydrogen
Bamberg’s expertise in automotive technology and the ability to gradually automate small-volume production and then scale it up is something that has not gone unnoticed among the customers visiting the facilities. Carola Ruse, the head of the Electrolysis business unit at Bosch, confirms the interest. Even before the official market launch at Hannover Messe, Bosch has already received orders for roughly 100 megawatts. In the first year alone, stacks will be delivered to plant engineering companies in all of the world’s major economic regions. “Our target for 2035 is sales revenue in the low ten-digit range,” she says, cautiously optimistic. She is well familiar with the industry’s ambitious aim for green hydrogen to reach cost parity with gray hydrogen. In simple terms, parity means that hydrogen produced by electrolysis powered by wind and solar energy must not, in the long run, be more expensive than that produced by conventional, carbon-intensive means, using steam. “It’s quite simply a matter of competitiveness,” Ruse says. “And there’s no doubt that the economies of scale in our stack production will help.” Yet, an undertone of caution again tempers the confidence: “The hydrogen economy is all about mitigating global warming. That’s true. But even so, a green economy has to make economic sense. And that’s something Bosch can help with.” Ultimately, Ruse knows she can draw on her company’s experience: “We have a track record of industrializing new technologies.”
Market launch at Hannover Messe
A few weeks later, Hannover Messe opens its doors to welcome the global economy like every year — this year with a hall dedicated to the hydrogen industry. Featuring a name alluding to hydrogen, the Bosch stack is unveiled at its market launch as Hybrion. Moreover, the FEST electrolyzer system showcased at the trade show is equipped with not one but two powerhouses — drawing crowds of potential customers and also attracting visits by prominent members of the political community. Again and again, visitors ask the same questions: What price points can green hydrogen reach in the long run? Are the Bosch stacks merely curious showpieces or will they have a real market impact?
As far as the first question is concerned, we’ll have to wait and see how the market responds in the coming years, but the second question Bosch can answer straight away: “We’re already delivering today and worldwide, and after the trade show we will integrate the FEST electrolyzer equipped with our stacks into our own in-house hydrogen cycle at the Bamberg plant.” That is another part of the project that Christina Krick Calderon is managing. She is meanwhile not just handing out business cards at the trade show, she’s deeply engaged in discussions with interested parties. Project planners, plant manufacturers, operators, investors, suppliers — a wide range of visitors stop by. “Our presence at the trade show is sending out a message,” says Krick Calderon. There is no doubt in her mind: “Bosch must become synonymous with hydrogen.”
