Bosch on Wednesday opened a fuel cell pilot plant in Wernau, Germany based on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology.

The system consists of three fuel cell devices for stationary applications that supplement the existing power supply of the plant in Wernau in a way that saves CO2 and drives further development of these decentralised energy systems.

“Bosch has recognised the huge economic potential associated with hydrogen and fuel cell technology, both in the mobility sector and in the area of ??stationary energy supply,” said Franz Untersteller, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister for the Environment, Climate and Energy Industry.

“And not only that: with hydrogen, the economic prospects complement each other wonderfully with the ecological benefits. This technology is a key technology for climate protection.”

Additional SOFC pilot plants for testing and validation are located at the Bosch locations in Bamberg, Homburg, Renningen and Schwieberdingen.

The construction of demonstrator systems is also planned in Stuttgart-Feuerbach and Salzgitter.

“The energy transition can only succeed if we invest in sustainable, renewable energies in the long term,” said CEO of Bosch Thermotechnik, Uwe Glock.

For Bosch, the highly efficient fuel cell is therefore an important contribution to the security of supply and flexibility of the energy system of the future.”

Hydrogen strategy

The Federal Government’s recently adopted hydrogen strategy will make hydrogen an important energy source of the future.

The SOFC fuel cell can be operated flexibly with hydrogen, eco/biogas or natural gas.

“The gradual changeover to hydrogen as an energy source in the next few years will make the stationary fuel cell particularly future-proof in terms of achieving the climate targets,” explained Dr. Wilfried Kölscheid, Head of the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell project at Bosch.

Compared to the electricity mix in Germany, a SOFC fuel cell system saves up to 40% in CO2 emissions even when operated with natural gas.

A SOFC unit with an output of 10 kW can cover the annual electricity requirements of more than 20 four-person households.

At the Wernau plant, this means that the energy requirements of a building within the plant can be covered almost entirely by the three fuel cell devices.

“With the SOFC pilot plant in Wernau, Bosch is demonstrating that safe, environmentally friendly and flexible energy supply can be guaranteed decentrally using systems such as the fuel cell,” said Glock.

“The installation underscores our efforts to promote the energy transition and the associated containment of climate change in all Bosch energy and heating solutions,” added Kölscheid.