Volta Energy is taking the first step towards emission-free energy with their hydrogen generators. During ESNS they supplied power to the nightliner bus in which BumaStemra hosted workshops.

Jeroen Clement and Thomas Tikken of Volta Energy thought the testing process was very valuable: Jeroen: “We had some challenges with the permit application. We had never experienced that before, so it provided a lot of useful information. In the future we must ensure that we start the application process earlier. Also to coordinate everything properly with the fire brigade. But in the end we made it work and everything went well.” Getting everything done logistically was also an interesting part of the test: “With a diesel generator you can replenish fuel yourself, but for hydrogen you need external parties. It was good to test how we can achieve that in the short term.”

An unexpected situation occurred when connecting and testing the generator. Thomas: ‘’We  had purchased parts that seemed leak-tight in previous tests. But due to the cold weather they started to leak a bit. That’s probably because steel shrinks when it gets cold, which we hadn’t anticipated. Fortunately, our own material remained leak-tight. With these results we go back to suppliers of certain components: how is this possible, how can we prevent this in the future? The generator worked great, we were able to test all functionalities properly.” The electricity buyer was also satisfied, because he got a good insight into how much electricity he uses: “With a diesel generator you cannot see how much you consume, we can keep track of this very precisely. In the end, the bus consumed much less than expected.”

The test also attracted the attention of local authorities: ‘’The Municipality of Assen and the Municipality of Groningen were both interested and wanted to arrange a meeting with Volta Energy.’’