Panasonic HX in Munich: Creating a Reliable Hydrogen Future

Located in Ottobrunn, a suburb of Munich, Germany, The Customer Experience Center (CXC) on the Panasonic Campus Munich welcomes many B2B customers daily. “You may be amazed, but this center’s electricity comes from hydrogen energy in addition to renewable energy sources,” says Florian Sobek, Business Development Manager of the Hydrogen Business Office, Panasonic Europe.

On the campus, a demonstration project for Panasonic HX, a hydrogen-based energy solution, is underway. The project embodies Panasonic’s challenge for contributing to Europe’s decarbonization efforts. This article explores the full scope and potential of Panasonic HX.

Europe has been ahead of the curve in seeking ways to balance climate change measures with economic growth. Under the European Green Deal announced by the European Union (EU) in 2019, European countries have been working towards the goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through advancing transformation of social structures in all areas, including energy, transportation, and agriculture.

Especially, shifting to hydrogen and away from fossil fuels has been promoted as a core strategy for energy transition in Europe.

“The advantage of hydrogen is that it can be stored for the long term,” explains Sobek. In fact, fluctuations in power from renewable energy sources can be evened out by storing hydrogen and using it as fuel during winter months when solar power output declines.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, has set a target of distributing 20 million tons of green hydrogen produced from renewable energy in EU member nations by 2030 and has been accelerating efforts for social implementation of green hydrogen, such as promoting projects to build supply networks.

Panasonic HX is a decentralized energy solution for innovative onsite power generation. Its main feature is the introduction of Panasonic’s pure hydrogen fuel cell generators (hereafter pure hydrogen fuel cells), which enables the utilization of green hydrogen. The solution combines pure hydrogen fuel cells with renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic generators, and storage batteries. An energy management system (EMS) coordinates and controls these three sources of power, optimizing their use to meet demand for electricity.

Panasonic HX has three main features. First, it allows for stable utilization of fluctuating renewable energy by integrating power generated from pure hydrogen fuel cells with an AI-based EMS. Second, through this high-precision EMS, which utilizes AI and cloud-based technology, it can efficiently capture and distribute heat that is generated during pure hydrogen fuel cell power generation. Third, as an independent energy system, it reduces dependence on power from the grid, which can be affected by weather and demand for electricity, achieving a higher level of resilience.

Sobek explains, “The name Panasonic HX embodies our commitment to advance full-scale utilization of hydrogen (H) as a new, low-environmental-impact option and to contribute to the transformation (X) toward a decarbonized society through collaboration (X) with partner companies, governments, and business customers.”

The first demonstration project for Panasonic HX began in April 2022 at Panasonic’s fuel cell factory in Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. In December 2024, the initiative expanded with the unveiling of another demonstration facility in the company’s microwave oven assembly factory in Cardiff, Wales in the UK.

Through these initiatives, Panasonic is now expanding its scope across Europe where the needs for diversification of the electricity portfolio have been growing. The proliferation of data centers, driven by the spread of generative AI, has increased demand for electricity, straining Europe’s power grids. Securing power has become even more difficult. “In this context, having alternatives to power from the grid contributes to the stability of daily life and business operations,” says Sobek. Furthermore, the EU is strengthening regulations for climate change countermeasures, and companies are facing stringent requirements. Failure to comply adequately could result in penalties such as fines. Panasonic HX can offer European companies under these kinds of pressures a solution that both enhances resilience in power supply and reduces environmental impact.

Panasonic began its third demonstration project at the Panasonic Campus Munich near Munich, Germany in March 2025. For the first time, the site is not a manufacturing facility but an office building. The goal is to supply 100% of the electricity using renewable energy for the Customer Experience Center (CXC), a building that functions as a showroom and lab.

A new demonstration facility (around 203 m²) was set up on the campus to power the CXC building. This demonstration utilizes 60 kW from existing photovoltaic generators (which have maximum output capacity of 190 kW) along with 50 kW generated by five PH3 units, Panasonic’s latest 10 kW pure hydrogen fuel cell model. Electricity from the photovoltaic generators and the pure hydrogen fuel cells is integrated through the EMS to provide a total of 110 kW of electricity. This setup demonstrates real-time control over the pure hydrogen fuel cells, responding to fluctuations in renewable energy due to the unique weather conditions in Europe.

The PH3 pure hydrogen fuel cells achieve approximately twice the maximum output of Panasonic’s previous pure hydrogen fuel cell models. The output can be adjusted in 1 kW increments to meet changing needs. The fuel cells are also compact and quiet, making them suitable for use in urban areas and office environments. This demonstration uses green hydrogen, produced in Germany and Austria, that is supplied from a 40-foot (approx. 12.2 m) hydrogen tank trailer.

The EMS optimizes the balance between supply and demand. It controls the output of the pure hydrogen fuel cells based on electricity demand and forecasts of solar power generation derived from local weather data.

“The CXC building regularly hosts many B2B customers. We found great value in having customers experience the electricity generated by Panasonic HX in Germany. The country is the foremost industrial power in Europe and formulated its hydrogen strategy as early as 2020*, leading the way as an environmentally conscious nation,” says Sobek, expressing confidence in the demonstration’s impact.

* The National Hydrogen Strategy established by the German government in 2020

The key difference from past demonstrations at other sites is that this demonstration does not use storage batteries. Storage batteries excel at peak shifting of surplus electricity and responding to power fluctuations. However, since the Munich site doesn’t generate a lot of solar power, and the fluctuations of power demand at the CXC building are also small, the introduction of storage batteries was deemed unnecessary. As a result, initial costs were reduced, and installation became possible within the limited space.

The biggest hurdle in introducing fuel cell equipment is the need to coordinate multiple licensing processes with relevant authorities. Potential customers of Panasonic HX inevitably face approval processes for each design and assessments for fuel cell and other peripheral infrastructure such as green hydrogen storage facilities and grid connections. “This time, because we are building and operating the system ourselves as owners, we were able to experience these real challenges and develop ways to address them. This is the most significant insight we gained from this project,” says Sobek. At the same time, going through the entire process of building the project revealed areas that need to be strengthened in Panasonic’s value chain, such as supporting customers in early planning stages and specification activities. Sobek believes that these insights will be useful for future expansion in Europe.

Panasonic HX holds an important key to realizing the Panasonic Group’s long-term environmental vision, Panasonic GREEN IMPACT (PGI). It embodies FUTURE IMPACT—one of the three pillars of PGI—which seeks to contribute to reducing CO₂ emissions by more than 100 million tons through the creation of new businesses and technologies.

“There is a great deal of active discussion across society about hydrogen utilization. However, there are not many examples that are actually integrating hydrogen into energy systems and operations,” says Sobek, highlighting the significance of these demonstrations. 

Following successful demonstrations at multiple company sites, Panasonic will now focus on leveraging Panasonic HX to support customers in achieving RE100 (Renewable Energy 100%) and creating new businesses that contribute to Europe’s climate change initiatives. “We are considering introducing Panasonic HX to data centers facing power availability constraints, while also looking to collaborate with public institutions such as hospitals and universities,” says Sobek.

In fact, plans to introduce the Panasonic HX solution are already underway in partnership with Greater Manchester Combined Authority and local organizations in the UK, and co-creation projects are starting to take shape across Europe.

Sobek shared Panasonic HX’s long-term vision for the future. “As progress is made in infrastructure development, such as building the green hydrogen supply network in Europe, the cost of green hydrogen will decrease, and the popularity of fuel cells will increase. Over time, fuel cells should become a more realistic and cost-effective clean energy option, just like solar power generation is today.” He concluded, “Hydrogen solutions centered on fuel cells will become an essential part of society and contribute to sustainable living—our efforts in Munich are a sure step toward that future.”