The plant will generate hydrogen for climate-neutral trains.

Lhyfe, a France-based, global pioneering company in renewable and green hydrogen production, has constructed and will operate a hydrogen production plant for Deutsche Bahn in Tübingen.  This marks the first site to be installed and operated by Lhyfe in Germany, and the green H2 produced at the plant will be used to power a climate-neutral train.

The plant is set to generate as much as 30 tons of renewable hydrogen annually.

This electrolysis plant, in the Tübingen innovation hub of DB Energie, a Group subsidiary, has a production capacity of up to 30 tons (installed electrolysis capacity of 1 megawatt) per year. DB Energie is investigating sustainable rail energy supply and testing new technologies.

Among its projects is the “H2goesRail” project. The train that will use the green hydrogen produced at the plant is part of the H2goesRail project, which is a partnership between Deutsche Bahn and Siemens Mobility. The purpose of the project is to develop a ground-breaking hydrogen system for rail transport. This system will be made up of a hydrogen train, a refueling station and maintenance infrastructure.

The plan is to put a train powered by hydrogen from Lhyfe’s green hydrogen production plant into operation this year. The train’s test route will be in Baden-Württemberg, between Tübingen, Horb and Pforzheim.

Lhyfe seeks to gain experience from this green hydrogen production project.

The complex system Lhyfe is building is challenging and has various dynamics, including hydrogen production, multiple compression, storage and refueling. Lhyfe is ready to take on this challenge to provide Deutsche Bahn and subsequent partners with an H2 production plant that can be utilized to test the integration of green hydrogen production into customer processes.

According to a Lhyfe news release, from this project Lhyfe is hoping to acquire experience for a largely autonomously operated system and the direct coupling of hydrogen production with a refueling station on a large scale.

“This project demonstrates the economic viability of hydrogen solutions in the transport and mobility sector,” said Luc Graré, Head of Central and Eastern Europe at Lhyfe.

Lhyfe wants to be a major player in the mobility and industry sector.

The company aims to achieve this through customer deliveries in tube trailer (bulk) in Germany and France by 2025. Lhyfe has been operating its first green hydrogen facility in France since 2021 and opened two other sites in France in 2023.

The company is also currently building a 10-megawatt plant in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, with several other sites throughout Europe presently being expanded or under construction.