The network

The Baden-Württemberg Fuel Cell Alliance is a merger between the Fuel Cells Research Alliance and the Fuel Cell Competence and Innovation Centre of the Stuttgart region. It has existed since September 2007 and currently incorporates 70 members, among them industrial enterprises, research facilities and universities. Its goal is to support research and development of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg by the means of public relations, the development and promotion of projects, cooperation between business, politics, research and industry.

Main activities

• informing members and the public,
• collaborating with decision-makers in politics, business and science,
• promoting the stakeholders' networks,
• cooperating with national and international agents such as NOW and HyRamP,
• developing and supporting projects and research activities,
• assisting in the application process for funding on the national and European levels.

The technological focus

The activities of the Baden-Württemberg Fuel Cell Alliance comprise all technologies and areas of application of fuel cells and hydrogen. These include vehicles, infrastructure, stationary and domestic power generation along with specific markets such as critical power supply and portable applications. The technological activities include PEM, MFC and SOFC, high and low temperature fuel cells, fuel reformation, hydrogen production and dissemination, hydrogen storage, material, components and systems together with the corresponding control technology, software and manufacturing technology. A great deal of attention is directed toward the development of sustainable methods of hydrogen production.

Our members' main technical focuses are, among others, automotive engineering, i.e. automobiles and buses (Daimler), aeronautics (DLR) and stationary energy production (EnBW, CFC Solutions). Our main focuses of research include methods of sustainable hydrogen production, materials and operations science and industry-oriented applied research (DLR, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Max Planck Institutes, ZSW). The strategic importance of Baden-Württemberg as an important global automobile industry location is evidenced by numerous development activities for fuel cell and system components in the supplier industry.

Highlights

The Baden-Württemberg Fuel Cell Alliance links the activities taking place in business, research and politics, in industrial enterprises, research facilities and universities and thus constitutes the central comprehensive platform for communication and cooperation in the field of fuel cell and hydrogen technology in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Baden-Württemberg is the state with the highest industrial turnover in Germany, it invests 4.2% of its gross state product in research and development and is home to numerous significant industrial companies and major research facilities.

The main activities of the Baden-Württemberg Fuel Cell Alliance are:

• informing members and the public,
• collaborating with decision-makers in politics, business and science,
• promoting the stakeholders' networks,
• cooperating with national and international agents such as NOW and HyRamP,
• developing and supporting projects and research activities,
• assisting in the application process for funding on the national and European levels.

Current projects are the Bodensee flagship project promoted by NOW, the creation of a "Baden-Württemberg Stack" for small services in stationary usage and the development of hydrogen cartridges. The Stuttgart region is one of eight model regions for electric mobility in Germany. The Baden-Württemberg Fuel Cell Alliance supports the creation of a federal agency for electric mobility and is actively involved in its design.