Hycell Engage set to introduce its PEM fuel cell technology in India

Hycell Engage is a hydrogen fuel cell startup incorporated in India after 7 years of R&D in Germany & Spain. The company has developed PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cells, which have been tested by truck and bus OEMs in Europe. Hycell also claims to have the IP to reduce the fuel cell cost by around ten times.

We spoke with Dr. Frank Loeschmann, co-founder and CEO of Hycell Engage, a notable sustainable mobility evangelist and the former CEO of Volkswagen India.

Can you begin by briefing us about your journey from the beginning and how it led to the creation of Hycell Engage?

It’s quite a story. I was in India for a few years, 13 years ago, starting with my engagement with the Volkswagen Group and later on with my own company, SisTeam GmbH, and I have seen many opportunities to grow business here. We had already started in Germany with some technology developments in terms of using renewable energy. And since Chinese companies were already quite stable in terms of battery technologies, we concentrated on hydrogen fuel cells.

I strongly believe in hydrogen technology in terms of reliable energy and also because we can produce it everywhere in the world without hesitation as compared to some carbon-based burning necessities. Also, hydrogen has applications in industries like fuel, mobility, heating and cooling sections, etc. Hydrogen is one of the most advanced possibilities for storing and creating energy in the future. A couple of years ago, India established a program especially for hydrogen. So, with my friend and colleague Venu Varma, we started our company Hycell in India and SisTeam in Germany to enable us to combine German technology knowledge and use the opportunities that India presents.

Considering India’s overall energy landscape, how important do you think hydrogen is for the future?

Hydrogen worldwide is one of the most important topics for the future. If we see carbon-oriented systems like heating systems or current mobility systems, we have to first accept that we need to buy oil, and the sellers of oil are usually not that stable politically. Hydrogen is quite democratic and systematic, as we can store and create energy based on our needs. From my point of view, hydrogen is one of the most feasible futuristic topics for replacing carbon-oriented systems.

What does the hydrogen value chain look like, and where do you see the need for the most focus to make hydrogen-fueled mobility a reality?

The first thing to focus on is the creation of hydrogen using green electricity and electrolyzing systems. The second step is the transport of hydrogen. There are some possibilities through tubes, similar to what already exists in terms of gas pipelines, as well as, transportation over land by train and trucks.

Coming to the most feasible starting point for hydrogen use, hydrogen will replace carbon systems in the industry. We expect a huge amount of hydrogen for steel, aluminium, and similar systems. I see the second use in mobility, especially in heavy-weight, long-distance transport systems, including trucks, trains, and ships.

Integrating hydrogen systems with fuel cells into smaller cars running in city traffic does not make much sense. Battery systems are unbeatable for these kinds of applications. However, for long-range transportation like trucks and trains, the hydrogen system with a big fuel cell is very feasible, and that’s also what we are focusing on.

Where do you see the need for most focus to make hydrogen fueled mobility a reality?

Everyone is concentrating on the starting point of hydrogen production: electrolyzing systems. They are interested in self-developed fuel cells and PEM fuel cells. It is then related to using hydrogen by creating electrical energy needed for stationary and transportation uses.

The most important requisite is to create this technical network—a stable production of hydrogen on one hand and users on the other. In other countries, we observed that everybody was engaged in technology for using hydrogen in mobility and industry, missing the hydrogen production itself. In India, it’s different. People are thinking more parallel, creating hydrogen and using hydrogen in different systems. India has the competency to handle both.

What is the current readiness of the fuel cell technology for heavy vehicles?

The hydrogen fuel cell was created about 130 years ago. At that time, interest was more in combustion engines as they were easier to handle. We missed out on the last, let’s say, 60 to 80 years to develop this technology further and the network to make it happen. I think that’s to be done right now.

Now, we have technologies for producing hydrogen, though we do not have enough capacity yet. On the other hand, we have fuel cell technology like Hycell’s. We already have a fuel cell technology that can be produced at quite a large scale. That means serious production with a high number of fuel cells that needs 1 to 2 years to be implemented in India, and then we can grow this business quite fast.

This needs a little bit of engagement, risk management, and some governmental support, and then in about two to three years, we will see quite an interesting scale-up of hydrogen technology in India. Technology-wise, we are ready. We need to increase the production capacity and focus especially on the distribution network to make hydrogen happen in all parts of India because trucks running anywhere will need to refill with hydrogen.

If hydrogen fuel cell technology is already ready, why do you think most heavy vehicle manufacturers, such as commercial vehicles and buses, are making all non-IC vehicles with battery-operated EV systems instead of hydrogen?

Because there was missing information. First, there is a strong push for electric vehicles by the European Union and Asian markets, like China. Hydrogen is coming on a larger scale now because the transportation systems already available with battery technology are seeing the disadvantages of the system. It’s quite heavy. The range of these cars is usually only 200 to 300 kilometres in India. If we stick to the combustion engine, that is environmentally unsuitable.

I believe that scientists and politicians in India understand this topic better than people in other countries—and certainly there is more technology openness. We see in India that nothing is against electric cars with batteries, nothing against hydrogen cars, even though both technologies will survive, not as competition but as add-ons in the future. And that’s to be understood. We are already seeing this turnaround of this way of thinking in Europe.

Apart from mobility, what other use cases of hydrogen fuel cells do you foresee?

Interestingly, all technologies where we burn something to create electricity, such as heating, cooling, and stationary, can be use cases of hydrogen. There’s also an interesting demand out of India for a backup solution to switch from the power plant to a decentralized system, similar to what could be done with a combustion engine. The PEM fuel cell plays the main role for such a hydrogen system. We are talking about some 500 million families in India to deliver this solution. We are talking about a huge amount of energy, and I do not expect this to be fulfilled by burning technologies or nuclear plants.

So, in addition to mobility, we expect a huge demand for stationary systems for heating, cooling, and creating electricity in the future.

Can you also tell us about your product’s USPs and the market validation it has received so far?

We are in the position to offer the most durable fuel cell worldwide. Usually, fuel cells have a maximum duration of 30,000 hours. When we are talking about stationary systems, that’s enough for a lifetime. But when we are using this electricity-creating system for trucks, it’s different. Trucks run about 1 million up to 1.2 million kilometres in a lifetime. Our main advantage is durability; we can deliver a system that stays over the lifetime of a truck.

Starting next year, we hope to add 2 or 3 or 4 fuel cells to one system to serve use cases where we need 100 kilowatts. That’s the power of our fuel cell. Some other systems, like trains, need 300 or 400 kilowatts. We only need to combine the standard modules to achieve this. The standardized module is a huge advantage in terms of cost. We can offer a 400-kilowatt fuel cell system, a 100-kilowatt fuel cell system or an 80-kilowatt fuel system using the same stack.

We have fuel cells run in Europe with Volkswagen and some truck refurbishments. All those fuel cells are currently running between 20,000 and 80,000 hours without any failure, which shows that our fuel cell is available for a minimum of 60,000 hours.

Where will your fuel cell production facility be located in India?

The majority of Indian companies import fuel cells, and our vision is to create a global fuel cell brand in India and start exporting fuel cells globally.

We are looking for a facility right now. We are discussing several possibilities in terms of production, but we are producing in Europe. We are open to discussing with some interested parties, such as investors and governments, to find the right solution in terms of a technology hub that is also economically interesting for us.

What are your recommendations for the overall enhancement of the hydrogen-based ecosystem? And what do you suggest could be incorporated from the government side while designing the policies for this?

It is a topic of sustainability. We have seen some huge engagements in Europe and the US in different technology sectors. But it’s only a small push, and when the push is over, the progress is very slow. For the hydrogen business, we need to speed up. There needs to be governmental and scientific support over a longer time. I believe that is a challenge and a chance for India’s supporters, including the governments and private investors, to invest over the next 10 to 15 years to build the complete hydrogen ecosystem in India.

We already have a hydrogen production system, such as photovoltaic and electrolyzers. However, a complete network is required to deliver hydrogen wherever it’s needed, which has not yet been done. The production sites for the fuel cells also need a little bit of time. So, my request for support will be over the next 10 to 15 years, and that’s necessary to make this system run.

At Hycell and SisTeam, we can produce 20,000 to 50,000 fuel cells in 2 to 3 years from now. But when we look at India as one of the major countries worldwide in terms of population and technology growth, it’s necessary to put in more effort than Hycell and SisTeam can afford.

Also read: IISER Tirupati develops Hydrogen generation method from Methanol and Formaldehyde