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Munich, December 2, 2025 – HDC Solutions, Globe Fuel Cell Systems, and the University of the Bundeswehr Munich have signed a letter of intent for a joint pilot project. The goal is to test bidirectional fuel cell systems in a local building grid and evaluate their active integration to assess and demonstrate their operational benefits for resilient energy structures.

As part of the project, an XLP80 fuel cell unit from Globe Fuel Cell Systems will be integrated into an intralogistics tractor vehicle and operated within the H2 microgrid of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. This will investigate how fuel cells can not only provide energy but also actively interact with a power grid.
In parallel, HDC Solutions will model the entire system as a digital twin on its energy system platform THORIUM. Based on this, load flows will be analyzed, operational strategies developed, and the effects of bidirectional energy flows on the grid evaluated. The fuel cell serves as a real demonstration object, where HDC and the University of the Bundeswehr demonstrate that bidirectional systems—regardless of the specific technology—can be software-modeled, controlled, and used in a grid-supportive manner. This step extends the pure technology application with a practical control and decision-making system that will also work with other bidirectional components in the future.

The roles are clearly defined: HDC Solutions is responsible for digital modeling and evaluation, Globe Fuel Cell Systems provides the fuel cell along with infrastructure components, and the University of the Bundeswehr Munich supplies the H2 microgrid, integrates the system into the energy system, and enables test operation, including data connection to the energy management system (EMS) and the schedule optimizer.

“We prove that bidirectional generators, such as fuel cells, are no longer a vision but a real lever for increasing resilience in critical infrastructures,” says Philipp Czasch, CEO of HDC Solutions. “Bidirectional fuel cells can balance loads, provide energy, and improve grid stability. That’s exactly where we come in—with a system that makes decisions from data and puts technology to use.”

The technical scope of the project includes operating the fuel cell system in industrial trucks, its physical integration into the building’s power grid, the integration of data interfaces into the EMS, and the creation of a digital model to evaluate grid-supportive operating modes. Additionally, initial investigations into the potential use of waste heat as an additional efficiency factor are planned.

Dr. Bernhard Wienk, founder and CTO of Globe Fuel Cell Systems, sees the project as a necessary step toward market reality: “Our XLP80 platform demonstrates that fuel cells have long since arrived in real industrial applications. Their use with customers like BMW and Mercedes-Benz proves that fuel cell systems meet the demands of challenging operating environments today.
We are very pleased that, together with HDC, another use case is emerging that visibly demonstrates how the energy supply of the future works: reliable, flexible, and beyond pilot and laboratory conditions. This is exactly the step the market needs.”

The University of the Bundeswehr Munich also expects far-reaching insights. “The H2 microgrid allows us to test technologies under real conditions,” says Arjun Vijay, Team Lead Energy Systems. “The combination of intralogistics, building grid, and fuel cell creates a test field with high significance and provides findings that will benefit security-critical facilities through the coupling of the mobility and energy sectors.”

The project duration is approximately six months. By mid-second quarter of 2026, a final report is expected to be completed, evaluating the technical results and defining potential follow-up projects. This report will serve as the basis for funding applications, rollout models, and potential industrial applications.

The expected outcome is a clear proof of concept: Bidirectional (fuel cell) systems can be technically integrated, actively controlled, and operated in a networked manner. This creates a relevant starting point for the use of these systems in critical infrastructures, the defense sector, and energy-autonomous applications.

This partnership marks a milestone: What succeeds here on a small scale has the potential to reduce energy dependencies on a large scale, increase supply security, and accelerate the path to a resilient, low-emission energy future. The question is no longer whether the technology works, but how quickly it can be scaled.