Germany – Schaeffler has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Lhyfe, a French hydrogen producer, to produce and purchase green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen is produced and supplied by Lhyfe for use in transportation and industry. The manufacturing sites allow for the industrial-scale generation of green hydrogen in the region and locally. As a result, Lhyfe will construct and manage an electrolysis plant with a maximum 15 megawatt capacity on the Schaeffler site in Herzogenaurach, Germany. From 2025 on, the facility will deliver around 3.7 tons of green hydrogen daily to the Schaeffler factory in Herzogenaurach and other local clients.
Schaeffler anticipates that switching to this renewable energy source and using the electrolysis plant’s waste heat as a source of heating for its Herzogenaurach location will result in sizable reductions in its CO2 emissions. The highly effective electrolysis facility will also provide green hydrogen to other Schaeffler locations as well as potential clients in the surrounding area, including municipalities and hydrogen filling stations. The arrangement includes a technology cooperation to support the usage of Schaeffler’s electrolysis stacks in addition to the procurement of green hydrogen.
Roadmap 2025
One of Schaeffler’s strategic business sectors is hydrogen, which is also a part of the company’s Roadmap 2025. Metal bipolar plates are stacked one on top of the other to create electrolyzers. Each stack uses electricity to power a chemical reaction that separates water (H2O) into its two primary components, the gases oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2) (H2). According to the LOI, Schaeffler will supply polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzers as part of a technical cooperation.
