First 100% hydrogen boiler for utility market commissioned

The branch of Hollander Techniek, technical service provider within the utility, retail and industrial sectors, in Apeldoorn, has recently been heated with the first 100% hydrogen boiler for the utility market. Never before has a building in the Netherlands been heated on green hydrogen. The 1998 headquarters of Hollander Techniek with a total area of 5,500 m² accommodates 400 employees. The hydrogen heating is intended as a pilot project for the application of hydrogen in larger buildings and has a duration of at least 2 years.

Hollander Techniek is expected to occupy a new building totaling 3,000 m² on the same plot in 2025 due to an expansion need, in addition to the current building. Because both buildings will be delivered without natural gas, in addition to the boiler running on 100% green hydrogen, use will be made of heating via a hybrid heat pump and a boiler on green propane gas. The latter application is only used as a supplement on very cold days.

First producer of the Netherlands

With this pilot, Remeha is the first manufacturer in the Netherlands to introduce a higher power hydrogen boiler. At Hollander Techniek a Quinta Ace_H2 100% is used, a 100% hydrogen boiler with a capacity of up to 40kW. Supplemented by an Effenca MT40 heat pump, two Quinta Ace 45 boilers - in so-called cascade arrangement - controlled by a miTera Plus system controller. The entire system is energy-neutral.

At Hollander Techniek, they have been working for years to become more sustainable at natural replacement times. Erik Hollander, general manager explains the situation. "In addition to a new building under construction, we also want to make the move to heat our current building even more sustainably and reduce our_{CO2 emissions} in the process. That wasn't so easy. Due to the insulation value of our existing building, the limited availability of electricity in Apeldoorn-Noord business park, combined with the electrification of our vehicle fleet and also the capacity requirements of the building under construction, heating with all-electric heat pumps did not appear to be possible. After consultation with our Apeldoorn partner Remeha, manufacturer of sustainable indoor climate solutions, a new system solution was chosen. All solutions together - including our existing CHP system - help our ambition for our buildings to be_{CO2 neutral} by 2025."

Second motivation for Hollander is that the company wants to be at the forefront of the energy transition. "That is why it is very important for us to gain a lot of knowledge about hydrogen: what is involved, how do we train our people and how do we train them to work with hydrogen in a safe way? This is precisely why we choose to make our own premises sustainable and apply hydrogen."

Lots of experience

Back in 2017, Remeha began developing the first residential hydrogen boiler. Since 2019, Remeha has gained extensive experience in heating homes and apartments on hydrogen. In 2019, for example, Remeha was involved in heating an apartment complex in Rozenburg on hydrogen. At the time, this was the world's first hydrogen application in a residential building. This was followed by successful hydrogen projects in existing and new homes.

Hydrogen projects for utility buildings are the logical next step. Remeha, for both residential construction and utility buildings, uses proven natural gas boiler platforms to control hydrogen boilers, which also meet the highest standards in combination with heat pumps or propane. For the utility market, the well-known Quinta platform is available that is scalable to larger capacities.

Remeha has developed three 100% hydrogen boilers with different capacities for pilot projects: the Tzerra Ace_H2 100% 28C, the Tzerra Ace_H2 100% 34C and the Quinta Ace_H2 100% 45. Remeha is awaiting availability of infrastructure and laws and regulations to introduce the commercial hydrogen boilers to the market.

Maurice Meulenbrugge, product manager renewable gas at Remeha is pleased with this new project. "At Remeha we believe in multiple paths to sustainability: gaseous, electricity and heat networks. We see the solution in the combined use of energy carriers, appropriate to the environment and existing infrastructure. Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier. Especially in applications in the utility sector, where the required power is often high, we have the opportunity to significantly reduce_{CO2 emissions} with hydrogen. Therefore, we are pleased to be able to run this pilot project together with Hollander Techniek, especially since it involves hydrogen produced with energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar energy."

Hybrid system solution

Meulenbrugge talks about a second piece of news in this project: "The hybrid setup can be called a national first. Never before has a hybrid heat pump, a 100% hydrogen boiler and two supporting propane boilers been cascaded, centrally controlled by a system controller. With this project, Remeha is demonstrating that hydrogen can be part of the comfortable heating of commercial buildings, thus creating a role for hydrogen in the sustainable system solutions. In this way, we contribute to creating a better living environment."