HARTING goes for hydrogen technology
The HARTING Technology Group has commissioned a new fuel cell plant in Espelkamp, Germany. The pilot plant from the Bavarian manufacturer Reverion complements the existing biogas and photovoltaic plants. Initially, the plant will convert locally produced biogas directly into electricity, thereby making the energy supply at the Espelkamp site even more efficient and climate-neutral.
“The plant complements our energy management perfectly,” says Philip Harting, CEO of the HARTING Technology Group. “It is not just another building block in climate-neutral production. It also enables us to maintain a sustainable and resilient energy supply during shortages or at times of peak demand.”
In future, the fuel cell plant is also set to temporarily store the renewable energy generated in the form of green hydrogen and convert it back into usable energy when needed. The particular advantage of Reverion technology lies in its exceptionally high efficiency across the entire energy cycle. Whilst many conventional solutions with separate electrolysers, gas storage and reverse power output recover only 40 to 50 per cent of the energy used, Reverion achieves a significantly higher electrical efficiency when reconverting hydrogen back into electricity. The so-called round-trip efficiency – that is, the path from electricity to hydrogen and back to electricity – is up to 75 per cent. An additional highlight: energy that is not converted into electricity can be used as process heat in the biogas plant to maintain fermentation.
This is made possible by reversible high-temperature technology, the elimination of combustion, and the integration of all conversion steps into a single plant, thereby significantly reducing energy losses.
Sven Oßenbrink, Vice President of Corporate Real Estate Management & Facility Management at HARTING, emphasises: “The Reverion plant is ideally integrated into our existing infrastructure and can be incorporated into energy and load management via defined interfaces. It is precisely this transparency and controllability – from power input to return feed-in – that is of central importance for the safety of our operation and further development of our energy system.”
In the current phase of development, HARTING is testing various system configurations to determine the appropriate storage capacity and application for future scaling. Technically, the system is designed for a power input of up to 250 kilowatts in electrolysis mode and a reverse power output of up to 100 kilowatts in fuel cell mode. It currently covers around 3 per cent of the energy demand at the Espelkamp site, thereby complementing the existing energy infrastructure. The electricity generated is used in production and administration at plants 2, 3a, 3b and 7.
The plant currently plays a minor role in addressing bottlenecks or peak loads. However, looking ahead, the technology opens up new possibilities for flexible and fail-safe load management, particularly when scaled up.
HARTING technology in action
The Reverion plant utilises HARTING connectors from the Han portfolio – specifically Han HPR housings and Han-Modular inserts. These provide high-performance, robust yet flexible interfaces for signals, data and power within the plant. Thanks to the modular design, different transmission media can be combined within a single connector and securely integrated. This reliably ensures the seamless interaction of all systems.
“We are delighted that HARTING is convinced by our technology and is using it in its own energy system,” says Maximilian Schmitt, Head of Sales & Marketing at Reverion. “The project in Espelkamp demonstrates that our reversible technology not only achieves high efficiency levels but can also be integrated into existing industrial infrastructures in a practical and reliable manner. The collaboration with HARTING is a strong reference project for us and provides an important impetus for the further scaling of our technology.”
