Erlangen, April 27, 2018

Covalion continues to expand AREVA’s hydrogen portfolio in Germany. In the Rhineland a hydrogen filling station for the regional traffic Cologne GmbH (RVK) develops. The plant will be able to supply up to 20 environmentally friendly hydrogen buses with a total of 500 kilograms of hydrogen per day and will commence operation in May 2019.

“The hydrogen filling station to be built is a crucial element for RVK in order to successfully shape the way to emission-free local traffic in the Rhein-Sieg district and Bonn,” says RVK CEO Eugen Puderbach.

“For us, the project is an important step towards becoming a full-service provider of hydrogen solutions. The field of mobility extends our existing energy storage activities and makes the goal of sectoral coupling a reality “, explained Kerstin Gemmer-Berkbilek, who is responsible for hydrogen activities at Covalion.

Covalion leads the project consortium and is responsible for project management and systems integration. The other partners are the engineering service provider EMCEL, ANLEG as a specialist for high pressure gas systems, ems for storage and WEMA for construction and operation of the gas station.

Covalion markets the storage technologies, renewable energy and industrial services of the global nuclear power company Framatome (formerly part of AREVA) and implements projects around the world.

Erlangen, March 4, 2018

After the first successful collaboration on the “Smart Grid Solar” project in Arzberg, Bavaria, Covalion and Hydrogenious Technologies GmbH continue the joint work on hydrogen storage in Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC). At the beginning of January 2019, the two entities have agreed on a closer cooperation to give the LOHC technology a broader foothold in the growing hydrogen market. As both partners are based within Erlangen, Bavaria, this collaboration will strengthen the city’s role as the world’s central industrial location for developments in the field of LOHC.

Both partners consider dibenzyltoluene, usually known in industry as a heat transfer oil, to be the most suitable hydrogen-carrier material. Hydrogenious’ proprietary carrier oil has significant advantages in storage density, costs and most importantly, safety. Besides being hardly flammable and non-toxic, it is not classified as a dangerous good. As such, it eliminates the risks of conventional hydrogen storage. Furthermore, it can be transported at ambient conditions, making handling and transport easy within the existing infrastructure.

Hydrogenious Technologies is convinced that it has found a strong partner in Covalion, who will be able to actively contribute to the international expansion of the market for LOHC applications. “We are pleased that with Covalion a further player in the LOHC market has chosen dibenzyltoluene as its carrier of choice. The advantages of our technology enable hydrogen to be easily and safely used as the energy vector of the future,” says Daniel Teichmann, CEO of Hydrogenious Technologies.

Thanks to its strong expertise, Covalion fosters the use of hydrogen in a future energy system. Covalion offers a range of hydrogen solutions to the market, including PEM electrolysers, Hydrogen Refuelling Stations and LOHC-based solutions.

Erlangen, March 21, 2017

Innovation in Middle Franconia: In 2017 a new type of battery storage system is being installed in Wendelstein, south of Nuremberg. The Gemeindewerke Wendelstein Bürgerkraftwerk GmbH, a subsidiary company of local utilities Gemeindewerke Wendelstein and Nuremberg based N-ERGIE Regenerativ GmbH, as well as Erlangen-based energy specialist AREVA, will be constructing the plant in the Wendelstein network area in the coming months. Two fully air-conditioned containers will house the batteries. Theoretically, the storage capacity is sufficient to provide 100 average households with a day’s worth of power. The storage system consists of used battery modules from electric cars.

Within the scope of the project, specialists from energy companies, plant construction and the automotive industry will work together. Integrating complete battery packs from electric vehicles into a stationary unit is uncharted territory. AREVA has developed the technical concept and input and output controls. N-ERGIE will use the plant to provide so-called primary control. This capacity is needed in the event of unexpected fluctuations in energy input or energy demand in order to ensure a reliable supply at all times. Integration into the power grid will be accomplished using the 20kV network connection in the “Am Kohlschlag” industrial estate in Wendelstein.

“We are proud to be forerunners of the energy turnaround in such an innovative project here in Wendelstein. The partners come from Middle Franconia and they demonstrate the wealth of knowhow that we have at our disposal in the region”, said Werner Langhans, mayor of Markt Wendelstein. He is pleased that the investment in the Gemeindewerke Wendelstein community power plant can be supplied by the citizens of Wendelstein.

“The development of weather-dependent renewable energy sources such as sun and wind necessitate new
types of storage technologies. Key to this is that batteries have the potential to balance out small to mediumsized fluctuations in the distribution network”, stressed Stefan Mull, the responsible project manager from NERGIE.

“The storage system strengthens the regional value chain and is a significant contribution to the reinforcement of decentralized approaches to the future energy supply”, stated Rainer Kleedörfer N-ERGIE’s director responsible for innovation management.

“AREVA has vast experience in battery storage systems for emergency power supplies in large power stations. Using this as a basis, we are working with our partners to develop innovative storage solutions for the energy policy turnaround” explained Jochen Lorz, the head of industry sales for AREVA.

The 75 square meter footprint of the two containers housing the battery equipment contains around 100 battery modules. The maximum input and output capacity is 500 kilowatts; the storage capacity on startup is about one megawatt-hour.