Linde : at HANNOVER MESSE: Focus on hydrogen mobility, energy storage and liquefied natural gas

Munich, 9 April 2015 - Technology company The Linde Group will be showcasing the latest developments in environmentally sound energy carriers at HANNOVER MESSE 2015. This year, the spotlight will be on hydrogen (H2) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) alongside storage solutions for renewable sources of energy.

Linde will also be underscoring its strong ties with this year's official partner country to the trade show, namely India. Linde has been active in India for 80 years and continues to play an important role in supporting dynamic growth in this region. "Forecasts for India indicate growth of around 8 percent and I find that very encouraging," explains Sanjiv Lamba, member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. "Further industrial growth will be essential to ensure a stable and sustainable future for the country."

Linde's refuelling technology deployed around the globe

Building on its extensive experience, Linde is pioneering the expansion of a hydrogen infrastructure. The company has equipped around 90 refuelling stations in fifteen countries and has performed approximately one million vehicle refuellings. "We are making a valuable contribution to the successful commercialisation of fuel-cell vehicles, which are now ramping up to series production among leading car manufacturers," says Dr Andreas Opfermann, Head of Technology & Innovation at Linde. The company has developed a number of technical breakthroughs in this field including its low-wear, low-maintenance ionic compressor and the cryopump. "Our ionic compressor is now being successfully deployed in all leading hydrogen hubs - from Europe to California and Japan," continues Dr Opfermann.

Hydrogen-powered vehicles have long ranges and short refuelling times - benefits that are spurring more and more companies as well as government and public institutions to support the expansion of this technology. Linde's proven mobile refuelling unit "traiLH2™-gas" is also extending the benefits of hydrogen to areas where a stationary supply infrastructure has yet to be developed. This unit will be used in Hanover, for example, where Linde will again be the exclusive supply partner for the fuel-cell cars used by the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP). Visitors to the show will be able to test drive the zero-emission cars from CEP partners Daimler, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and Volkswagen on an outside area at the trade show. The cars - and a fuel-cell bus from the hydrogen technology cluster "HyCologne" - will be powered by "green" hydrogen.

Driving the transition to sustainable energy with hydrogen

Hydrogen is more than just an environmentally friendly fuel. The gas is also an ideal medium for the long-term storage of regenerative power, in particular energy produced by wind turbines. By its very nature, wind is a highly fluctuating source of energy. In many cases, the resulting power cannot be used at the time it is produced. However, this "excess" energy can be used to electrolyse water into hydrogen and oxygen. The resulting hydrogen can then be stored and used on demand.

This is the concept behind Energiepark Mainz. Currently under construction, this initiative is a joint research project between Linde, Siemens, the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences and the municipal utilities company Stadtwerke Mainz. Linde's ionic compressor is proving its worth here too. Used in conjunction with dynamic electrolysers, the compressor delivers a range of benefits including fast load changes and low energy consumption. The zero-carbon hydrogen can be pumped into tankers or fed directly into natural gas networks to produce energy and/or heat. Energiepark Mainz is set to go on stream in summer of this year and has the potential to increase the renewable share in the energy mix in the long term.

Linde's products and services also help manufacturers optimise the production flow of components for wind turbines. Smart, gas-enabled solutions to increase productivity include the innovative LINDOFLAMM® flame solutions for pre- and postheating.

LNG replaces heavy oil and diesel

Natural gas is the most environmentally sound of all fossil fuels. This makes LNG an effective option to bridge the transition to more sustainable forms of mobility. For land and sea shipping companies looking to meet increasingly strict emissions regulations, for example, LNG is an attractive alternative to heavy oil and diesel. Thanks to its expertise across the entire value chain from the development of individual fuelling solutions to the construction of world-scale natural gas liquefaction plants, Linde has recently been awarded a number of orders within and outside of Germany. The joint venture company Bomin Linde LNG will start transporting LNG to the German towns of Cuxhaven and Emden from mid-2015 on. The fuel will be used to power two passenger ferries used by the AG EMS Group. These two vessels will be the first ships in Germany to be powered by LNG. Interest in dual-fuel LNG drive solutions capable of significantly reducing sulphur oxide (SOx), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and CO2 emissions also remains strong in the Baltic Sea region.

Linde will be on hand in Hanover from 12 to 17 April 2015 to answer any questions visitors may have about these and other fields of clean technology. The Linde stand (B77) will be located in hall 27 at the trade show. Linde will also be presenting a broad portfolio of surface treatment solutions in hall 3 (stand C31). One of the highlights on display here will be the company's CRYOCLEAN®snow+ solution, an innovative cleaning process that combines the benefits of dry ice and sand blasting technology.

In the 2014 financial year, The Linde Group generated revenue of EUR 17.047 bn, making it the largest gases and engineering company in the world with approximately 65,500 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment - in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The company is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.

Under the "Clean Technology by Linde" label, the company offers a wide range of products and technologies that help to render renewable energy sources financially viable, and significantly slow down the depletion of fossil resources or reduce the level of CO2 emitted. This ranges from specialty gases for solar module manufacturing, industrial-scale CO2 separation and application technologies to alternative fuels and energy carriers such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen.

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