The hydrogen campus in Salzgitter is picking up speed: A cooperation agreement was signed today by the city of Salzgitter, Salzgitter AG, MAN Energy Solutions , Bosch, Alstom, WEVG, the Fraunhofer Institute for Coating and Surface Technology and the South-East Lower Saxony Project Office, in which the Office for Regional Development and Allianz für die Region GmbH act jointly.
The idea of establishing a hydrogen campus here began to mature in Salzgitter in the fall of 2019. In addition to Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel, the initiators were the Chairman of the Executive Board of Salzgitter AG, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann, the current State Secretary in the Lower Saxony Ministry for Federal and European Affairs and Regional Development, Matthias Wunderling-Weilbier, and Stefan Klein, Member of the Lower Saxony State Parliament.
The starting point for the hydrogen campus is the diverse experience and projects of the local industrial companies in the production and use of hydrogen. The launch is now being made possible thanks to the 7 million euro structural aid from the third pillar of the structural aid program that the state of Lower Saxony is making available to the city of Salzgitter.
Once the idea was born, cooperation partners and politicians in Salzgitter invested a lot of time and energy in developing a viable concept for the hydrogen campus. This should make a significant contribution to the economic strengthening and sustainable development of Salzgitter and the entire region as a location for industry and innovation.
"The signing is an important step on the way to the hydrogen campus and a commitment to Salzgitter as a business location, where jobs with prospects are to be created in the future. The transformation process of the companies is in full swing," emphasizes Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel. "All cooperation partners have expressed their serious willingness to work together on the success of the hydrogen campus."
They made this clear not only with their signatures, but also with personal statements:
State Commissioner for Regional Development Dr. Ulrike Witt emphasizes, "The Wasserstoffcampus here in Salzgitter is an anchor point for the hydrogen economy in our region. The combination of climate protection and value creation opens up new prospects for the industrial region. We will seize these opportunities."
"Green hydrogen is a central component of our decarbonization project SALCOS - SAlzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking. The hydrogen campus offers the opportunity to pool knowledge, work together on an interdisciplinary basis and thus generate added value for everyone involved and the people living here. This can create a lighthouse project with supra-regional appeal," affirms Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann, Chairman of the Executive Board of Salzgitter AG.
As the Fraunhofer IST, we are supporting the development and networking of the Wasserstoffcampus from the perspective of applied research. The aim is to demonstrate the industrial use of hydrogen in Salzgitter. We are particularly driven by the question of which technologies and business models will enable the decarbonization of industry. A great strength of the Wasserstoffcampus is the know-how of regional industrial companies, both in terms of technological expertise and different industrial applications," explains Prof. Christoph Herrmann, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films.
"For Bosch, hydrogen is an important building block in the energy transition. At the Hydrogen Campus, we will specifically research and implement the use of hydrogen to reduce the CO2 footprint of factories," says Michael Gensicke, Member of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch Elektronik GmbH. "We are particularly proud to be able to symbiotically integrate the hydrogen campus at our site - the offices are already ready for occupancy," emphasizes Gensicke.
"Hydrogen is the energy source of the future when it comes to a CO2-neutral energy supply. Alstom is also an absolute pioneer in the field of mobility with its self-developed hydrogen train. For us, the hydrogen campus in Salzgitter is the logical next step in researching further application and efficiency potential," says Jan van den Houte, Labor Director of Alstom Transport Deutschland.
"At MAN Energy Solutions, we are planning to build an industrial-scale Power-to-X plant that converts green hydrogen into CO2-neutral synthetic fuels. The hydrogen campus in Salzgitter creates the best conditions for this, especially due to its proximity to industrial customers," says Marc Grünewald, Head of Business Development, Power and New Energies, at MAN Energy Solutions. "Synthetic fuels have the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in the industrial, mobility and building heating sectors and are therefore indispensable for the success of the energy transition."
"The Braunschweig-Wolfsburg region is characterized by industry and research. With the signing of the cooperation agreement, a new beacon has been created in Salzgitter that will radiate beyond our borders. I am convinced that our region in particular will serve as a blueprint for many industrial regions and that together with our partners we will take the energy transition a step further," says Dr. Frank Fabian, Managing Director of Allianz für die Region GmbH.
WEVG Managing Director Rainer Krause adds: "One of our main tasks as a local energy service provider will be to support the further development of the necessary infrastructure so that the electricity can be transported to the electrolysis plants and the resulting green hydrogen to potential consumers and the heat generated in the conversion process can be put to good use."