The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economics, Labor and Housing is funding a new building for the “HyFaB” project of the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) with 10,5 million euros. Commissioning is planned for early 2022.
HyFaB creates a “flexible research platform for the production of high-performance fuel cells,” says Ludwig Jörissen, acting head of fuel cell research at ZSW. “The possibilities range from the qualification of materials, components and fuel cell stacks to automated manufacturing processes to testing and quality assurance procedures such as those required for large-scale automobile production with a volume of 200.000 vehicles.” There would also be “concepts for training and further education developed by specialist staff”.
In addition to the automotive and fuel cell supply industry, HyFaB also includes companies from mechanical and plant engineering. The project offers “orientation on getting started with fuel cell technology as well as the rapid implementation of products”.
In the first phase, the ZSW in Ulm will be expanded to include a building with a gross floor area of 3.600 square meters for systems for automated material and component qualification as well as for research into the assembly of membrane electrode assemblies (MEA). It is being built on a plot of land adjacent to the existing ZSW location.
The HyFaB project is carried out by ZSW in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg.
Photos:
Handover of the funding notice for the HyFaB building: ZSW board member Powalla, head of ZSW fuel cell research Jörissen and economics minister Hoffmeister-Kraut. / © ZSW
