HARTING Technology Group has commissioned a new fuel cell plant at its Espelkamp facility, strengthening the company’s long-term commitment to sustainable and resilient energy infrastructure. Developed in partnership with Bavarian technology company Reverion, the pilot installation complements the site’s existing photovoltaic and biogas systems and marks another step toward climate-neutral industrial operations.
The newly operational plant initially converts locally generated biogas into electricity to support production and administration facilities across the Espelkamp campus. The system currently contributes around three percent of the site’s energy demand and is integrated into plants 2, 3a, 3b, and 7.
According to HARTING, the project is designed not only to improve renewable energy utilization but also to support future energy storage and load-balancing requirements. The reversible fuel cell technology enables renewable electricity to be temporarily stored in the form of green hydrogen and reconverted into electricity when required. This approach is intended to support stable operations during periods of peak energy demand or supply shortages.
The company stated that the Reverion system achieves significantly higher energy efficiency than conventional hydrogen storage solutions. While traditional systems using separate electrolysers and gas storage units typically recover 40 to 50 percent of the original energy, the Reverion technology delivers a round-trip efficiency of up to 75 percent. The system also generates usable process heat that can be redirected to support fermentation processes within the biogas plant.
The technology combines electrolysis, gas storage, and reconversion processes into a single integrated system while eliminating combustion-based energy conversion. This integrated approach helps minimize energy losses and improve operational performance.
The HARTING Technology Group is a global leader in industrial connectivity, with operations spanning 43 sales companies, 14 production facilities, and six development sites worldwide. Their connectivity solutions facilitate the transmission of data, signals, and power across various sectors, including transportation, electromobility, renewable energy, automation, and mechanical engineering. In the 2022/23 fiscal year, the family-owned company achieved sales of EUR 1,036 million.
Sven Oßenbrink, Vice President of Corporate Real Estate Management & Facility Management at HARTING, said the plant has been closely aligned with the company’s broader energy management strategy. He noted that the infrastructure enables transparent monitoring and controllable energy flows, which are essential for operational reliability and future expansion of the company’s renewable energy ecosystem.
HARTING is currently testing different system configurations to determine future storage capacity and scaling opportunities. The system is technically capable of operating with a power input of up to 250 kilowatts in electrolysis mode and a reverse power output of up to 100 kilowatts in fuel cell mode.
The project also showcases HARTING’s own industrial connectivity technologies. The Reverion plant incorporates connectors from the Han® portfolio, including Han® HPR housings and Han-Modular® inserts. These components provide interfaces for transmitting power, signals, and data throughout the system and support modular integration of multiple transmission media within a single connector.
Reverion described the Espelkamp installation as an important industrial reference project demonstrating how reversible hydrogen technologies can be deployed effectively within existing manufacturing environments. The collaboration is expected to support further commercialization and scaling of the company’s energy systems for industrial applications.
