The success of hydrogen-powered vehicles in Europe is largely dependent on refueling stations being able to offer hydrogen at an affordable price. It is therefore vital that refueling costs are reduced, by means of optimizing the compression process. This is the focus of the research work being carried out in the EU project COSMHYC , on which five European industrial companies and research institutes are collaborating: the European Institute for Energy Research (EIFER) , Steinbeis 2i GmbH , MAHYTEC SARL , Nel Hydrogen , and Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik GmbH .

The main objective of the project is to enhance hydrogen compression through a combination of mechanical and metal hybrid-based compressors. The hybrid solution should considerably simplify the refueling process and cut costs by up to 25%. The solution is to be designed to provide hydrogen at 700 bar from all kinds of source – with a pressure prerequisite of over 20 bar. “The next steps are now to build and test the prototypes,” says COSMHYC coordinator David Colomar from EIFER.