Many mid-sized companies no longer want to rely on the automotive industry as their sole customer. You are looking for new business areas. For example, the EBZ Group in Ravensburg relies on hydrogen.
Few people have seen this awakening more clearly than at Factory 2 of the EBZ Group in Ravensburg. Because in the huge hall, clamping arms and transport systems for the automotive industry are being manufactured, among other things, a new office area is located under the roof of the old hall. This is called “TIC”, “Technology and Innovation Centre”. Inside there are chic furniture, some plants, a tea room and people working on the company’s future in front of monitors.
Because this is no longer just in the automotive industry, we are convinced of it. “We still have confidence in the automotive industry, in which we will not run away. But we also want to establish a related business area in hydrogen electrolysis,” explains Alexander Schmeh, CEO of the operations business, as 95 percent of the mid-sized company’s sales still come from projects in the automotive industry, such as body stamping. But that should change.
rethink transformation process
When the transformation process started a few years ago, the battery assembly market was the first to be touched. But even so, development opportunities are limited, said Schmei: “Our customers now know how to develop and design electric vehicles, but they also feel that the market is not buying these vehicles in all products in terms of volume and price.”
Therefore, EBZ decided to take another strategic step towards hydrogen, more precisely: towards electrolyzers. “An electrolyzer can produce green hydrogen from renewable electricity by splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen,” explains Marc-Simon Löffler.
EBZ Group’s electrolyser prototype
New business field Hydrogen
Loeffler opens a grille behind which hides an impressive piece of machinery. Tall and long like a garage, with silver pipes, and a giant “stack” in the center, are tiers of electrolyzers. At the Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Center in Stuttgart, there is a prototype electrolyzer. What’s special: 40 companies from the state of Baden-Württemberg are involved in the construction of the project. “We built the electrolyser in order to activate companies in Baden-Württemberg, motivate them to participate in product development and build up state-level production capacity,” says Loeffler.
They particularly want to target mid-sized companies in the automotive supplier industry, as the transformation process is currently causing business areas to collapse in many places. The potential here is enormous.
Think again before turning off the burner
Indeed, news of the European Union’s announcement of a 2035 end to the use of internal combustion engines has already sparked riots in the auto state of Baden-Württemberg. Big names are based here: Daimler and Porsche in Stuttgart, Audi in Neckarsulm. As a result, many companies around were previously only active as suppliers to the automotive industry.
“You always look at the car companies themselves, but at the moment the situation with suppliers is more explosive,” says Helena Wisbert, an automotive expert at the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences. “If they were previously in a business area that is now being phased out, such as powertrains or combustion engines, they have to change their entire product portfolio.” As you can see from patent filings in recent years, many have already done so. “We’re seeing more registrations in electric vehicles or fuel cells,” Westbert said.
energy importer germany
For the latter, hydrogen comes into play again, since it is needed to power the fuel cell. Investing in this energy source is therefore definitely the right way to go, says Karsten Lemmer of the German Aerospace Center: “Germany’s current demand for hydrogen is around 55 TWh per year and could increase to around 946 to 1364 TWh per year by 2050 to meet the needs of all industries.”
“All sectors” here refers to larger sectors, such as ammonia production or the steel industry, as well as smaller flows. But, as Raimer points out: “We will not be able to meet Germany’s needs. From today’s perspective, Germany will always be an energy importer.”
At the EBZ Group in Ravensburg, planning in the field of new hydrogen products is already well underway. A prototype of the electrolyzer should be ready by the end of this year. Next year, the company hopes to move into low-volume production, followed by high-volume production from 2025. In the long term, the EBZ Group wants electrolysers to account for 25% of sales. So this gives the company a solid second pillar besides the automotive industry.