NEUMAN & ESSER: Integrated Solutions for the Hydrogen Revolution
Compressors move energy and enable the transition to cleaner fuels of the future. But manufacturing compressors and electrolysers requires engineering of the highest level. NEUMAN & ESSER can deliver, and MP Alexander Peters together with MD Jens Wulff are confident about the company’s ability to drive a hydrogen revolution.
Germany’s NEUMAN & ESSER, a leading provider of compressor system solutions to global markets, is no stranger to energy transition. The company was established in Aachen in 1830 close to the Dutch and Belgian borders and was involved in the manufacture of machinery around the time of the industrial revolution in Germany. Brothers Johann Leonard Neuman and Friedrich August Neuman saw the obvious opportunities in the emergence of steam engines and air compressors used in the close-by coal mines. The company thrived and built a reputation for excellence, but a second energy transition saw the advent of liquid fuels and gas, and a redesign was required to use air compressors for chemical parks and refineries. Again, NEUMAN & ESSER flourished, growing to become an industry leader. Now, as the modern energy transition continues, the fourth-generation family-owned company is perfectly positioned to bolster green projects with compressors for hydrogen, biomethane, and LNG.
As a logical consequence, NEUMAN & ESSER broadened its product portfolio by acquiring Brazilian electrolyser manufacturer HYTRON, bringing in its vast experience in hydrogen and established NEA|HYTRON electrolysers with PEM technology as a strong currency in the market. This allows for integrated end-to-end solutions across the full H2 value chain: From designing a hydrogen production plant with a tailored compression system through engineering, construction, and commissioning to digitally supported full-service during operation customers may get everything from a single source.
With 1600 people around the world, and being present in 12 strategic country locations, the company is a globally active leader. In Germany, production sites in Übach-Palenberg, Mülheim, Staßfurt and Wurzen are well-known for excellence, reinforcing the German reputation for world-class engineering.
Managing Partner of NEUMAN & ESSER, Alexander Peters points out that hydrogen is certainly an important industry for the company going forward, and its skills and expertise fit perfectly with the requirements of the industry.
“People must understand the holistic picture,” adds Jens Wulff, Managing Director of NEUMAN & ESSER Deutschland. “Many in hydrogen go and buy an atmospheric electrolyser and then they are surprised by a failure-prone compressor system. When looking at the big picture, people should strive to achieve system optimisation and not local optimisation. You must have a system that fits together correctly, and saving money on the electrolyser can lead to a bitter operational cost with downtime and inefficient production.”
Integrated solutions out of one hand for hydrogen production, transportation, storage, and utilization projects therefore make a major difference for those looking to decarbonise.
“We are using our 100 years of expertise in compression of hydrogen. We have more than 2000 compressors at all scales running worldwide for hydrogen compression across a range of applications, and we are now combining compression expertise with electrolysis know-how,” says Wulff.
Peters adds: “As hydrogen becomes a more important part of the energy transition, our involvement will only increase.”
IMPLEMENTATION
In 2023, NEUMAN & ESSER announced a project near Magdeburg at the Osterweddingen industrial park providing compression, storage, filling, and transportation technology as well as consulting services for a hydrogen project led by the engineering and construction experts STREICHER Anlagenbau for ENERTRAG, a renewable energy provider. Power for a 10 MW NEA|HYTRON PEM electrolyser comes only from renewable sources and hydrogen will be utilised through the ONTRAS pipeline. Initially, two tonnes of green hydrogen will be produced daily, with the majority going to decarbonise long-haul transportation in the heavy industry of the region.
Eight NEUMAN & ESSER compressors will be installed, with four feeding into the national gas grid and four used for trailer filling. All compressors have been designed for their respective use and are expected to integrate into the system seamlessly.
“Both the single-stage feed and the two-stage filling compressors are diaphragm compressors of the NEUMAN & ESSER brand NEA|HOFER and use the same proven compressor crankcase size. The diaphragm heads are of course adapted to the respective application,” says Area Sales Manager, Guido Harsch.
Wulff adds: “We can offer both compressor and electrolyser manufacturing as a highly tuned package. We can capture the best of both systems. Even if we don’t build the electrolyser, we are at least the compressor manufacturer with the best electrolyser knowhow. We know what electrolysers like and what they don’t – this is our strength.” This highlights the importance of integrating technology effectively, especially when it comes to hydrogen. A good showcase for this is the Green Hydrogen Trailer Filling system fed by a NEA|Hytron- 10 MW PEM Electrolyser. NEA supplies the entire system including buffer vessels, control systems and buildings.
In the Netherlands, this strength has been put to the test as NEUMAN & ESSER compressors are set to be utilised to inject hydrogen into salt caverns for storage. The gas must be purified and compressed significantly before injection into the cavern but overall, the process is relatively low cost.
Bigger and stronger is the aim of the industry as increased volumes will be pumped through pipelines and injected into storage sites around the world. Whether hydrogen or CO2 for CCS, there effective movement of gas through compressors is central in the energy transition.
“Salt cavern storage of hydrogen, high-powered compressors for big ammonia plants – we have built a lot of these big compressors already,” says Wulff. “The demand for bigger compressors is there. High pressure, non-lubricated compressors, oil free, maintaining purity is a target for the next five years as big truck fuelling stations emerge, filling more than 500 trucks per day. We are currently executing projects for large scale H2 liquefaction in the US and for large scale H2 salt cavern storage in the Netherlands. Additionally, we are supporting various EPCs in the design and selection of green steel, green ammonia, and green methanol plants both on the electrolyser and the compressor side. “
To deliver at scale, the company calls on a world-class supply chain to support its activities. Quality is the key concern, and the procurement department is always looking to build new relationships so that many options are available for each individual part. It sounds like standard good practice, but a lot of work is put into a strong supply chain strategy.
It is paramount to work closely with foundries and forgeries. Electric motors, drives, instrumentation programmable logic controllers (PLCs), heat exchangers, pressure vessels, and stacks for electrolysers are required. The rectifier is also very important with its pumps for auxiliary systems, and other control instrumentation. The supply chain is vital and localisation in the procurement process has become a crucial element in recent times, following the disruption of the pandemic and the company’s global expansion.
For a fast-growing company standardisation is a must, but regulation makes it difficult to achieve with a company active on four continents. Flexibility and ingenuity have always helped to react to local content requirements or when it comes for example to different regulations around electrical manufacturing in the USA, Europe or Asian markets which are incompatible with each other.
GLOBAL EXPANSION
NEUMAN & ESSER has grown to a point where it is now a recognised authority on best practice in the hydrogen economy. This was evidenced in 2020 when Managing Partner Stefanie Peters was appointed as a member of the Hydrogen Council. Germany adopted a National Hydrogen Strategy which involves building 5GW of electrolytic capacity by 2030, a target that was doubled in 2023, now at 10GW.
“Investing in hydrogen is an investment in our future. In climate protection, in qualified jobs, and in securing the energy supply,” said Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck at the presentation of the National Hydrogen Strategy.
Many other countries have made public their hydrogen expectations, and many are progressing plans through pre-FEED and Final Investment Decision processes.
For Alexander Peters, Asia and Africa are the obvious choices for expansion because of the nascent markets and need for holistic integrated solutions, typically greenfield projects.
“We are going through the energy transition ourselves and we are assisting others with our adapted and newly integrated products and solutions for the energy transition,” he says. “We are well known in Europe and North America. We see Latin America as an area with room for improvement. Asia and Africa especially are key focus areas, very important in the energy transition, converting wind and solar into hydrogen or green ammonia or green methanol as part of a clean energy supply.”
He highlights population figures as key considerations but is also cognisant of the raft of risks that come with projects in new territories. “China is high risk and India is always looking for breakthroughs. Indonesia and the Philippines and Vietnam are doing good things. People are also looking for green ammonia projects for Australia, so the APAC region is exciting.”
Even where the company already has a strong presence, opportunities remain. “With our US Sales team, we have sold compressors for hydrogen liquefaction – which is very important for shipping hydrogen over long distances,” Peters adds. “We are doing many things with LNG for marine and we are busy with ammonia and green ammonia as a fuel and as an energy carrier.”
With such exciting opportunities at its feet, this historic and successful business is working hard to accelerate the energy transition, just as it has done in the past – using technology and engineering expertise to deliver innovation at scale. In the hydrogen and CCS spaces, NEUMAN & ESSER compressors are among the best available and, when paired with correct electrolysers and systems, the company delivers consistency.
“We are a plant engineering company, and we solve our customers’ mission critical challenges with reliably running and perfectly adjusted equipment,” Peters concludes.