Hexagon Composites sets the standard for future hydrogen solutions
Hydrogen is one of tomorrow's most important energy carriers and can help meet the growth in world energy demand. It provides clean, renewable energy, and is suitable as vehicle fuel. Hydrogen as a fuel will emit no greenhouse gases, as long as the hydrogen production itself is environmentally friendly.
Hexagon Composites sees a great potential for hydrogen as an energy carrier in the future, and has for many years played a key role in the development of storage technology for hydrogen fuel. Hydrogen under high pressure stands out today as the best and most cost effective solution for the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier for vehicles. As the world's leading manufacturer of high pressure containers made of composite material, Hexagon Composites is a partner in several projects involving the development of customised containers for buses, cars, filling stations and the transport of hydrogen.
Hexagon Composites has developed first generation composite containers, and the company is actively working to set guidelines for the further development of composite containers for the storage of hydrogen under high pressure. Hexagon Composites' technology enables high storage pressure with correspondingly large storage capacity in a limited volume for vehicles and filling stations.
The European Commission has put forward a proposal for a new transport plan that will ban the use of petrol and diesel cars in cities, necessitating other forms of transport. The Commission wants to halve the number of petrol and diesel vehicles in urban areas by 2030 and phase them out completely by 2050. If the goals in the plan are reached, the EU could achieve a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from all types of transport by 2050.
In the proposed plan, the EU will focus on cars that run on electricity or hydrogen. Several European countries have already established testing programmes for the development of national networks of hydrogen filling stations, and the major automakers have spent several years on test programmes for the development of vehicles based on hydrogen as an energy carrier. Hexagon Composites believes this to be a realistic but ambitious goal. There are still political and economic barriers to be overcome before hydrogen can be commercialised.
Hexagon Composites' subsidiary, Raufoss Fuel Systems, carried out a European type approval in 2010 for a unique stationary container that allows the use of 950 bar pressure for the storage of compressed hydrogen for use in filling stations. This container represents a technological breakthrough and will facilitate the development of hydrogen tank filling stations. This product has now been supplied to hydrogen filling stations in five countries in two continents.
The Group has initiated an extensive development programme which focuses on the controlled and safe use of hydrogen in vehicles. The programme is tailored to the needs which the automotive industry has indicated as imperative for future generations of hydrogen cars. Raufoss Fuel Systems has also initiated and participates in several international research projects and in the development of new international standards and regulations for composite containers and associated applications.
Hexagon Composites is a world leading supplier of complete storage and transportation systems for natural gas and hydrogen to the bus industry and for bulk transport of gas under pressure. The product range includes lightweight systems for the storage of natural gas and compressed hydrogen.
Hexagon Composites ASA is a publicly listed company with its headquarters in Ålesund, Norway. The Group employs 371 people and had a turnover of NOK 846 million in 2010. The Group develops and manufactures composite containers for the storage and transport of various gases under pressure and multiaxial composite reinforcements.
For further information, please contact:
Solveig D Saether, Communications Manager, Hexagon Composites ASA
Telephone: +47 70 11 64 45 | E-mail: solveig.saether@hexagon.no
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