Saarbahn puts hydrogen filling station into operation
Published by Willow Munz,
Editorial Assistant
Global Hydrogen Review,
After ten months of construction, the hydrogen filling station at the Saarbahn bus depot was put into operation on Monday 20 April. The company's own filling station will allow the Saarbahn's 28 fuel cell buses to be refuelled with green hydrogen. "The municipal hydrogen filling station opened today in Saarbrücken is another important step towards climate-friendly mobility. Our fuel cell buses operate with zero local emissions, producing less particulate matter and noise.
All of this also improves the quality of life in our city," said Mayor Uwe Conradt at the opening ceremony. By using 28 hydrogen buses, the Saarbahn avoids up to 2000 tpy of CO2 compared to diesel-powered buses.
Saarbahn remains technology-neutral
The decision to transition to locally emission-free propulsion systems, initially using hydrogen technology, was made years ago based on a feasibility study. Due to the topography and the current state of the art, the experts' clear recommendation was to use hydrogen as the emission-free propulsion technology.
"We have been operating fuel cell buses since last summer. The emission-free vehicles are particularly impressive when traversing steep terrain and with their range of around 400 km," said Saarbahn Managing Director Karsten Nagel. Nevertheless, Saarbahn remains open to all technologies, as there is significant technological progress in the vehicle sector and the range of battery-powered buses is also continuously improving.
Technical data of the hydrogen filling station
“The newly opened hydrogen filling station is equipped with three hydrogen dispensers, each with an operating pressure of 350 bar. The rapid refuelling of hydrogen buses using the ‘back-to-back’ method (directly one after the other) makes it possible to integrate regular buses into operations efficiently and without long waiting times,” explained Torsten Burgardt, who is responsible for the infrastructure of the Saarbahn and oversees the hydrogen project.
The fuel cell buses (Kite Hydroliner from the Northern Irish manufacturer Wrightbus) have five hydrogen tanks with a total capacity of 36.5 kg of hydrogen on the roof. "Based on our initial operational experience, these buses have a range of up to 400 km," Burgardt continued. Refuelling a bus takes up to 10 minutes.
The hydrogen filling station has a total capacity of 2.4 t. The station technology is supplied by Schwelm Anlagentechnik and can be expanded as needed thanks to its modular design. The hydrogen is delivered by special truck trailers. As a temporary measure, hydrogen buses were refuelled using a transfer station.
The long-term goal is for the green hydrogen to be produced in Freisen from 2028 onwards, using an electrolyser at the local wind farm. The Saarland Ministry for the Environment is supporting the construction of the electrolyser with approximately €2.7 million. The project is currently being further developed jointly by Saarbahn and the Saar wind farm.
Investment in emission-free mobility
Saarbahn invested €7.6 million in the construction of the hydrogen infrastructure. Of this, 40%, totalling €3.06 million, is being funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs (BMDV). The funding guidelines are coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by the Project Management Agency Jülich (PtJ).
Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/22042026/saarbahn-puts-hydrogen-filling-station-into-operation/