North German real laboratory project Sector coupling with traction

The goal of the Northern Germany Real-World Lab is to develop a transition pathway for an integrated energy system designed to reduce CO2 emissions in Northern Germany by 75% by 2035. The projects planned for the project period are expected to save 350,000 to 500,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. The large-scale approach gives the project a supraregional model character for hydrogen-based sector coupling in Germany and Europe.

The Northern German Real-World Laboratory (NRL) will operate eight electrolysers with a hydrogen production capacity of 42 MW. These are intended, in particular, to replace fossil fuels in industrial processes with hydrogen or its byproducts. Additionally, three projects are to be implemented at the NRL that will enable the utilization of waste heat at an estimated rate of 700 GWh per year. In the mobility sector, the use of refueling options and approximately 200 fuel cell vehicles in various usage scenarios is planned. In addition to passenger cars and small vans, this includes buses, waste collection vehicles, large street sweepers, and baggage tractors at Hamburg Airport.

The investment volume of the participating partners is expected to amount to up to 300 million euros. The NRL is part of the “Reallabore der Energiewende” funding initiative and is supported with approximately 52 million euros by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). The BMWK reserves the right to provide additional funding.

Within the NRL, hysolutions coordinates the mobility projects and oversees vehicle operations and refueling concepts, both in terms of design and their spatial distribution across three regional hubs in Hamburg, Lübeck, and Schwerin.