Lhyfe and Deutsche Bahn cooperate for the use of climate-neutral trains thanks to green hydrogen

Lhyfe has built and will operate a green hydrogen production plant for Deutsche Bahn in Tübingen. The electrolysis plant in the innovation hub of DB Energie, a Group subsidiary, has an annual production capacity of up to 30 tons (installed electrolysis capacity of 1 MW). The green electricity comes from Deutsche Bahn’s green electricity portfolio.

At the Tübingen innovation hub, DB Energie is testing new technologies for sustainable rail energy supply, including in the “H2goesRail” project. Using the green hydrogen produced, a climate-neutral hydrogen train will be put into operation this year on a test route in Baden-Württemberg – between Tübingen, Horb and Pforzheim.

“This project demonstrates the economic viability of hydrogen solutions in the transport and mobility sector. Sustainable energy sources and innovative technologies are needed to decarbonize the transport sector. One of these technologies is hydrogen-powered trains, which are a clean and efficient alternative to conventional diesel-powered trains as they are virtually CO2-free. The H2goesRail project is a pioneer in the field of passenger and freight transportation,” says Luc Graré, Head of Central and Eastern Europe at Lhyfe.

With this project, Lhyfe wants to gain experience for a largely autonomously operated system, as well as the direct coupling of hydrogen production with a filling station on a large scale. The commissioning of the complex system with its many different dynamics, from production to multiple compression, storage and refueling of the hydrogen, is a particular challenge. Lhyfe is taking on this challenge in order to provide Deutsche Bahn and subsequent partners with a hydrogen production plant that can be used to test the integration of green hydrogen production into customer processes.

Lhyfe develops customized solutions throughout Europe for the construction of local production and distribution systems for green hydrogen. The site in Tübingen is Lhyfe’s first plant in Germany. Another 10 MW plant is currently being built in Schwäbisch Gmünd, which will produce up to 4 tons of green hydrogen per day. Lhyfe aims to become a major player in the mobility and industry sector, through customer deliveries in tube trailer (bulk) in France and Germany by 2025. Several other sites throughout Europe are already under construction or being expanded. Lhyfe has been operating its first green hydrogen site in France since the second half of 2021, and two other sites were opened in France in 2023.