SCHAEFFLER DEVELOPS NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO INDUSTRIALISE HYDROGEN PRODUCTION

The green hydrogen energy chain is a pathway towards achieving a sustainable, carbon-neutral future, and therefore, offers significant potential in the fight against climate change. In this context, the solutions offered by Schaeffler can be applied both to the use of hydrogen in fuel cells and the production of hydrogen by means of electrolysis. “A significant milestone on the pathway towards achieving a clean energy chain based on green hydrogen is the capacity to produce hydrogen on an industrial scale”, according to Dr. Stefan Spindler, Industrial CEO of Schaeffler and member of Germany's National Hydrogen Council. “Thanks to its technological capacity, Schaeffler is well situated to act as a strategic partner in many stages of this process, for instance, supplying products for fuel cell stacks.”

“Hydrogen” as a strategic business unit of the Industrial division

The huge opportunities offered by green hydrogen feature prominently in Schaeffler's 2025 Roadmap. As a comprehensive supplier of the automotive and industrial sectors, Schaeffler is in a position to take advantage of collaborations and synergies between many disciplines in order to develop and produce technologies for the hydrogen sector.

The industrial division of Schaeffler has a hydrogen strategic business unit that brings together and coordinates the different activities relating to hydrogen. “We've been working for a long time as suppliers of components and services that are crucial to manufacturing renewable energies reliably and profitably, particularly wind power”, remarked Bernd Hetterscheidt, head of the Schaeffler's hydrogen strategic business unit. “We are already closely aligned with systems that generate a significant portion of the green energy used to generate hydrogen via electrolysis. Our strong association with clients in this area, combined with our well established expert knowledge of electrochemistry and quickly scalable manufacturing systems, are decisive factors when it comes to succeeding in the market.”

H2Giga: industrialising electrolysis of water

For the industrialisation of the electrolysis of water, over 130 businesses and institutions are taking part in the insignia hydrogen project H2Giga which has received approximately 500 million euros in financing from Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The aim of this project consists of developing systems and methods for industrial production of the electrolyser components and systems needed to make green hydrogen profitable and widely available. Schaeffler is heading up the consortium in one of its sub-projects: "Stack Scale-up - Industrialisation of PEM electrolysis". This sub-project comprises nine industrial and research partners and aims to accelerate the development of fuel cell stack technologies and mass production processes for the main components of low-temperature electrolysis. In this project, Schaeffler's main competencies in engineering and material shaping, surface technology and electrochemistry will play a decisive role in developing new products and solutions in hydrogen technology. Its industrialisation expertise will also help translate the resulting innovations into large-scale mass production.

Schaeffler's main competencies in engineering and material shaping, surface technology and electrochemistry will play a decisive role in developing new products and solutions in hydrogen technology.

Dr. Stefan Spindler, Industrial CEO Industrial of Schaeffler and a member of Germany’s National Hydrogen Council: “Thanks to its technological capacity, Schaeffler is in a good position to act as a strategic partner on many stages of the hydrogen energy chain.”