Why Referenzfabrik.H₂?
We create the conditions for hydrogen systems to be manufactured economically at industrial volumes. Our target “20 in 27” marks a clear cost and scaling path: cutting production costs to 20% by 2027 — through high-rate production, robust process chains and scalable quality concepts.
The bottleneck is manufacturing — not the technology.
Hydrogen technologies are a key to climate protection and the energy transition: systems that convert renewable energy into hydrogen (electrolyzers) and convert it back to power (fuel cells). Today the bottleneck often lies not in the technology itself, but in scalable, cost-efficient and quality-assured manufacturing. Ramping up a hydrogen-based industry therefore requires:
Industrialized process chains
From component to stack and full system.
Highly scalable production systems
Cycle time, automation and robust line concepts.
Integrated value-creation networks
Uniting core competencies from across industries.
Resources & sustainability
Material use, recycling and circular approaches across production.
This is exactly where Referenzfabrik.H₂ comes in: we translate these challenges into concrete manufacturing solutions and implementation options — opening opportunities for companies of every size and sector.
Purpose · Vision · Mission
We make hydrogen systems production- and market-ready — strengthening value creation, the energy transition and climate protection.
Our target: a significant reduction in the production costs of hydrogen systems by 2027 — through scalable manufacturing technologies, industrial quality concepts and capable value-creation networks.
We develop, test and demonstrate solutions for scaling up the industrial mass production of hydrogen systems — from manufacturing technology through process integration to quality assurance and sustainability.
Our goals
Referenzfabrik.H₂ creates the conditions for economical, high-rate production of electrolyzers and fuel cells. Our focus:
Scaling to industrial volumes
Higher output through automated, cycle-time-capable processes and robust, scalable equipment and line concepts.
Lower costs, raise competitiveness
Reduced manufacturing costs through optimized process chains, material efficiency and industrializable product and process designs.
Assure quality in series production
Testing and measurement strategies including process windows, data models and traceability — for stable, reproducible production.
Integrate sustainability & circular processes
Assessing and improving resource use, recycling pathways and reuse across the entire process chain.
Our expertise
As the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU), we develop technologies and production systems for competitive industrial manufacturing — from components through processes to complex machine systems: the whole factory.
Our strengths lie in production-engineering research for the automotive and mechanical-engineering, aerospace, medical- and electrical-engineering, and precision- and micro-engineering sectors. As the lead institute for resource-efficient production, we transfer this competence specifically to the manufacturing of fuel-cell and electrolyzer systems — across the entire process chain, including equipment development, automation, testing technology, data and quality strategies, and recycling — and we consistently keep our technologies and methods at the current state of research.
Join the value-creation community for the production of hydrogen systems.
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