Tradition meets innovation: Maximator Hydrogen is the 360-degree H2 spin-off of the family-run Schmidt Kranz Group
German engineering skill and tradition as well as decades of experience meet forward-looking ideas: With the founding of Maximator Hydrogen GmbH on January 1, 2022, the hydrogen specialist is combining technical expertise in the fields of compression technology and component construction with sustainable innovations for hydrogen refueling. Maximator Hydrogen is continuing its expansion course with high-performance complete solutions for hydrogen-based transport infrastructures.
"Over 130 years of solution expertise in the field of machine and component construction for very different applications help us to develop technologies for the next generation," explains Mortimer Glinz, CEO of the Schmidt Kranz Group, himself the fourth generation. "We have always combined this expertise with a high standard of quality and customer focus. We have greatly expanded our hydrogen expertise in recent years and can now cover the entire value chain within our group of companies, from the production of green hydrogen to bottling. Along the way, we offer additional innovations such as automated testing of hydrogen containers at the end of production chains. Maximator Hydrogen plays a central role in this with its refueling solutions."
Maximator Hydrogen on course for expansion
Maximator Hydrogen GmbH currently holds a leading European market share for newly installed systems. In Switzerland, for example, nine out of ten systems come from Nordhausen. The company is currently building Germany's largest production facility for hydrogen filling stations. "The demand for alternative fuels such as hydrogen is immense, especially in the mobility sector, and this gap needs to be closed with regard to the energy transition," explains Mathias Kurras, Managing Director of Maximator Hydrogen GmbH. The aim is to produce 200 hydrogen filling stations a year at Maximator Hydrogen in Nordhausen. Maximator Hydrogen GmbH is also planning to invest a further three million euros a year in the technical development of its products with its partner Maximator Advanced Technology GmbH (MAT) in Vienna. "The cooperation and close collaboration with MAT provides us with important ideas for optimizing our products," explains Kurras. "The impetus we receive from our partner not only helps us to continuously develop and improve our products, but also to further expand our leading position as a provider and developer of highly demand-oriented system solutions for hydrogen operation."
Strong growth leads to outsourcing
The Maximator Group is one of the leading manufacturers of high-pressure (hydraulic) components and test benches. The company entered the field of hydrogen technologies in the 1990s and, together with Maximator Advanced Technology (MAT), developed the first dedicated hydrogen compressors for filling stations from 2017. Since 2018, Nordhausen-based Maximator GmbH has also been building and producing complete hydrogen filling stations and has quickly established a leading position in this field thanks to its innovative technologies. Since then, the Hydrogen division has produced almost 50 hydrogen filling stations and has been going its own way as Maximator Hydrogen GmbH since 2022. Naturally, the synergies within the Maximator Group will be utilized, not least to further expand the competitive advantage.
Patented hydrogen compressor technology
At the heart of Maximator Hydrogen's hydrogen filling stations are the hydrogen compressor systems that the family-owned company has been producing since 1999. The basis of these systems is a high-pressure compressor, the MAX Compression, which is equipped with an automatic and globally patented seal exchange technology (Automatic Seal Exchange, ASX for short). With the ASX function, the regularly required seal change in the refueling system takes place automatically and within three minutes, reducing unwanted downtimes of the hydrogen refueling station to an industry-wide minimum.
Focus on the energy transition
Green hydrogen is the key element for the long-term success of the energy transition worldwide. As a leading provider and developer of comprehensive system solutions for hydrogen technologies, Maximator Hydrogen and its partners within the SK Group understand the importance of long-term and sustainable solutions to reduce CO2 emissions. "The necessary reduction in CO2 will only work if the infrastructure for hydrogen is built up quickly," explains Kurras. "That's why our goal is to use our innovative key technologies to make hydrogen usable on a large scale in the energy sector and to help it achieve a breakthrough as a new energy carrier for widespread use."