The use of fossil fuels is under attack. And rightly so, we take them out of the earth and pollute it in return. In addition to their application in industry and energy, transport is a major consumer of these fuels. But we cannot all drive a "battery" electric car; the current network cannot cope with that. The need for a solution that does not require a power outlet is therefore urgent.

The solution is found in hydrogen. “A clean and safe gas", says François Hemmerlin, hydrogen business development manager at Resato - company of the year 2017 in Assen. “The molecule is light and escapes quickly. It is a completely sustainable gas that leaves oxygen and clean water as the only residue when used. This allows you to store energy, heat houses and drive a fuel cell electric car. The ultimate alternative for a natural gas-free future.”

The year 2016 was the year that Resato said 'yes' to the development of hydrogen compressors. Before that, the market was not yet ready. In 2016, however, three things came together: the insufficient ability to buffer green energy from sun and wind, the clear objectives of the climate agreement in Paris and, thirdly, the dissatisfaction with the consequences of extracting natural gas from the ground in the north of the Netherlands. “Together they form the basis for the hydrogen economy, to which we want to make an essential contribution with our third business area with filling and testing systems.”

This third business area was a logical result of the two other divisions that the company has been working on for 25 years. “We are experts in creating, controlling and manipulating high-pressure in gases and liquids, up to 5000 and 14000 bar respectively. For comparison: water from the tap has a pressure of 3 bar. Our second business area consists of developing and building waterjet cutting machines. These two expertises come together - gases under high pressure and cutting machines that have to run continuously - in a third, with which we develop and build gas boosters for testing (up to 1100 bar) for hydrogen filling stations that must be continuously available. Such a booster is the heart of a filling station, for the hydrogen-powered sweepers of the Municipality of Groningen and the hydrogen buses in Delfzijl, for example. Of the former, we also built the entire compressor station, the Resato Fleet Owner Station."

The government's aim is to have twenty filling stations in the Netherlands by 2020. “This will succeed. The support base is there, the use of hydrogen is becoming increasingly well known to a wider public, more and more companies are interested and the demand for filling stations is increasing. Hydrogen is no longer a pipe dream: hydrogen is now."

 

The Resato Hydrogen Team