Share this page
 

1/16/2023

  • Top stories
  • Sustainability
  • Innovations

Three years on, and the world’s first 100% hydrogen boiler is still going strong

In June 2019, BDR Thermea Group started field testing the world’s first hydrogen-powered domestic boiler in Rozenburg, in the Dutch province of South Holland. This groundbreaking boiler burns pure green hydrogen to heat water and homes without releasing CO2. In this pilot, a converted natural gas pipeline carries the green hydrogen produced on site to the boiler room in the apartment building.

A recent scheduled maintenance visit found that the 100% hydrogen boiler is still in excellent condition, having operated continuously and without any issues or loss of capacity since installation.

“We’re immensely proud that our hydrogen boiler is in such good condition, working exactly like it did when we installed it. This is the perfect result for us,” says Andrea Manini, Head of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program at BDR Thermea Group.

Remeha-waterstofketel-182-web-3000pix

From lab to field

The pure hydrogen boiler was developed and tested extensively at BDR Thermea Group’s R&D centre in Italy. And the fact that it’s performing so well in a real-life setting confirms the R&D team’s lab findings on hydrogen combustion in boilers. One of these is that the combustion chamber is very clean thanks to the water vapor produced during hydrogen burning. 
“The field-test findings validate the technical choices we made in our lab, and give us even more confidence to scale up real-life testing,” Manini says. 
 
BDR-Thermea-Group-Innovation-Director_Ing-Andrea-Manini

“At BDR Thermea Group, we play a leading role in decarbonising heating, creating demand for heating with hydrogen. More and more companies in our sector are following our lead.”

Andrea Manini– Head of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program at BDR Thermea Group

Scaling up testing

BDR Thermea Group has been running pilot projects with 100% hydrogen boilers in the Netherlands, UK, France and Germany since 2019. Earlier this month, a hydrogen heating pilot for commercial properties kicked off in Germany. Later this year, a larger-scale domestic pilot will run in Lochem, a city in the east of the Netherlands, where around 15 inhabited monumental homes will be heated with hydrogen via gas pipelines.

The 100% hydrogen boiler is one of BDR Thermea Group’s solutions for decarbonising heating, along with hybrids and heat pumps. Hybrids are key to achieving carbon emission reductions quickly in less-insulated, existing buildings. They can reduce gas use by up to 70%. In time, the remaining 30% can be cut by using renewable or clean gases, such as hydrogen and biomethane.

$name$name$name$name$namebaymak_logo

You can find our head office at:


Kanaal Zuid 106 | 7332 BD Apeldoorn | The Netherlands

© BDR Thermea Group 2020

© BDR Thermea Group 2020