Bamberg and Stuttgart, Germany – Working with Stadtwerke Bamberg, the city’s public utilities, on a stationary fuel cell in Bamberg’s city center, Bosch is for the first time demonstrating its vision of a decentralized, climate-friendly energy supply of the future. The two partners have taken a micro power plant based on solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC) into operation at Bamberg’s central bus station (ZOB). Measuring roughly two meters high, the refrigerator-sized plant generates around 10 kilowatts of electricity, which is enough to meet the annual requirements of more than 20 four-person households in the neighborhood of the bus station. With an overall efficiency of 60 percent for power generation and more than 85 percent with additional use of heat, this stationary fuel cell is clearly superior to other energy converters of its size. The heat it produces is used by a bakery at the bus station for its heating and hot water systems. “As we move to alternative forms of energy, decentralized power supplies are becoming very important. The stationary fuel cell is ideally suited for the expansion of local power and heating networks in urban neighborhoods,” says Dr. Wilfried Kölscheid, who is responsible for stationary fuel cells at Bosch. “We are pleased to have found a partner in Stadtwerke Bamberg with whom we can jointly demonstrate what our stationary fuel cell is capable of.”
About Bosch
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 421,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2022). The company generated sales of 88.2 billion euros in 2022. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. As a leading IoT provider, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart homes, Industry 4.0, and connected mobility. Bosch is pursuing a vision of mobility that is sustainable, safe, and exciting. It uses its expertise in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source. The Bosch Group’s strategic objective is to facilitate connected living with products and solutions that either contain artificial intelligence (AI) or have been developed or manufactured with its help. Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is “Invented for life.” The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 470 subsidiary and regional companies in over 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. The basis for the company’s future growth is its innovative strength. At 136 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 85,500 associates in research and development, of which nearly 44,000 are software engineers.
The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861–1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.” The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant upfront investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-four percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The remaining shares are held by Robert Bosch GmbH and by a corporation owned by the Bosch family. The majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by the trust.
Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com, www.iot.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com, www.twitter.com/BoschPress.