Hydrogen for cars, music, houses...
Pure genius. Signed on everything Luboš Hajský and his team from the Czech company DEVINN create – their hydrogen solutions bring the world original, concrete, realistic ways to use hydrogen as clean energy in many areas of human life.
DEVINN is one of the top Czech innovative companies (its name is a combination of the words developmentand innovation). It does not only deal with hydrogen applications, but is also successful in the fields of electromobility, automotive lighting technology, electrical engineering, CAD structures and combustion engine innovation. However, the editors of H2 TIMES asked one of the founders (he founded the company with his wife Věra) and CEO of DEVINN Luboš Hajský for an interview on the topic of hydrogen products and DEVINN's hydrogen solutions. By the way – at the beginning of our meeting with Mr. Hajský in Jablonec nad Nisou we called him a pioneer and a visionary, but he shook his head and modestly ´corrected´ us: "We here at DEVINN are just integrators. We're just putting together half-asses into something new." However - the truth is that this "something new" often has no competition in the world...
Mr. Hajský, your own hydrogen applications include the mobile hydrogen generator H2BASE (it was able to power the entire stage at ROCK FOR PEOPLE in 2021 and 2022), the construction of a hydrogen Tatra truck drive, a mobile hydrogen filler, or the mobile hydrogen car charger H2BOT. The latter will have its world premiere on 19 October 2022 at the Hydrogen Technology Expo Europe in Bremen and will also be seen at European Hydrogen Week in Brussels a week later. How did you get into hydrogen in the first place at DEVINN?
"Our first hydrogen project came about completely pragmatically. Paradoxically, at a time when we didn't know about hydrogen yet. It was in 2017, when the global trend of 'electromobility' was already clearly set and when we were developing a mobile charger for a large Czech car company. Originally, we were thinking of converting a passenger car, for example a VW Golf, to this mobile charger, but we found that if we put the necessary charging battery in it, it would only carry at most an 80kWh battery and when it arrived at the charging point, it would successfully charge the electric car it had come to charge, but it would not drive off on its own, it would stay there without power. We said to ourselves at the time, well, that's not the way, but at that very time, by a coincidence of incredible coincidences, a friend of mine invited me to visit the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Řež. When I arrived there with my colleagues and we were walking through one part of the institute, one of the experts said to us: 'Well, here we are working with hydrogen and it has the property that one kilogram of hydrogen can store 33 kWh of energy.´ And that's when my colleagues and I looked at each other and knew we had a solution for our mobile charger."
Your H2BASE mobile hydrogen generator is a great alternative to diesel generators, not least because it is a green, emission-free technology – only pure H2O is a waste. It can be used, for example, by construction companies, organisers of sporting and cultural events, as a back-up power source for data centres, or to recharge electric vehicles. Its mobility and functionality was also verified after the tornado hit Moravia in 2021. It can also be used to build powerful power systems for residential buildings or industrial sites – after all, even your company headquarters in Jablonec nad Nisou is powered by electricity from your H2BASE hydrogen generator. Can you tell us if H2BASE has any competition in the world and what is the demand for it?
"As far as competition is concerned, to tell you the truth, I don't have a completely detailed global research. However, whether we have been to Japan, the US or even Germany, we have not seen a similar comprehensive and mobile solution that is similar to H2BASE. Certainly, as far as Central Europe is concerned, we have mapped it accurately, H2BASE is unparalleled. And in terms of demand - the hydrogen market is just emerging and we see that the demand for H2BASE is growing rapidly. As DEVINN, we are happy to be able to show our clients a working, concrete, literally tangible product, not just some presentation of an idea on paper."
Let me ask you one last question: in what areas of human activity in the 21st century do you think hydrogen can be most beneficial?
"Hydrogen is very interesting from the point of view of energy security and self-sufficiency because of the possibility to produce it anywhere and by anyone in the world. It is a great opportunity in general, especially in industry, energy, medicine and also in train and bus transport, as well as in heavy goods transport. So far, nobody who wants to push their ideas and technologies in the whole near 'hydrogen future' is missing the train because it is a new topic for everyone. A topic that makes sense."
Photos: H2 TIMES
