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By 2025, 150,000 passenger cars could already be running on green hydrogen

The five northern German coastal states have joined forces to build a green hydrogen economy as a pillar of the energy and transport transition: At their autumn meeting in Lübeck, the ministers, senators and senators responsible for the economy and transport today (7 November 2019) adopted a joint "North German Hydrogen Strategy". At the same time, the heads of department called on the Federal Government to support their initiative and incorporate it into the national hydrogen strategy announced by the Federal Government for the end of the year. "With our strategy, we show a way how the hydrogen potentials can be raised, especially in the field of industry and mobility. Our wind-rich coastal states are particularly well-suited for this industrial policy project, which can also be used to achieve climate protection goals," said conference host Dr Bernd Buchholz (FDP), Minister of Economics in Schleswig-Holstein. A first important step is to build up sufficient capacities for electrolysis. With this technical process, electricity can be converted into hydrogen. The strategy is to realise at least 500 megawatts of electrolysis capacity in northern Germany by 2025 and at least five gigawatts by 2030.

According to Buchholz, the 500 megawatts alone could theoretically supply around 151,000 passenger cars with green hydrogen if green electricity from onshore wind farms were used. With an increase to five gigawatts, that would be 1.5 million passenger cars, which corresponds to the current registration of all passenger cars in Schleswig-Holstein. In addition, parallel to the current construction of e-charging stations, a hydrogen filling station network must be built. For this, the heads of department consider an order of magnitude of around 250 filling stations in northern Germany to be necessary.

Hamburg's non-party Senator for Economics and Transport, Michael Westhagemann, also made it clear: "Hydrogen is a matter close to my heart, and I think the time is finally ripe for us to set off together - no longer just with general resolutions, but very practically and hand in hand. The North German Hydrogen Strategy should express our political commitment to this and set the guidelines. This is what the actors from industry are waiting for, because they are ready to make their contribution. Together we now want to start the process of building a hydrogen economy. The necessary tailwind for this must be provided by the federal government. That is why we will approach the federal government with this strategy paper in a timely manner, make our determination clear here in northern Germany and call on the federal government to quickly set the course towards the future - towards hydrogen."

Lower Saxony's Minister of Economics and Transport, Dr Bernd Althusmann (CDU), also pointed to the good preconditions of Northern Germany to become the leading region of a green hydrogen economy: "Renewable hydrogen will be the globally strategic energy carrier of the future. That is why we want to build a strong hydrogen economy together. Our goal of fully supplying all interested consumers with sufficient green hydrogen by 2035 is ambitious. It is important that the federal government creates the right framework conditions now. Only in this way can companies remain internationally competitive despite ambitious climate protection goals and rising energy costs."

In detail, the ministers and senators pointed to the following locational advantages of the North in building a hydrogen economy:

• high generation capacities for onshore and offshore wind power with further expansion potential,
• underground formations for the storage of hydrogen,
• Seaports, which will play an essential role in the future in the import and distribution of green hydrogen and synthetic energy carriers as well as in the use of hydrogen and the export of hydrogen technologies and components,
• maritime companies and scientific expertise as well as
• Industries with considerable experience in dealing with hydrogen
• additional know-how is being built up in the six northern German "real laboratories of the energy transition".

Bremen's first Senator for Economic Affairs, Kristina Vogt, said: "Together with the other coastal states, the state of Bremen will also take a close look at the technology for using surplus wind power, thus advancing an important field of expertise in the energy transition. The use of hydrogen as an energy storage medium is an important pillar of sector coupling and opens up promising future markets for the Bremen and Bremerhaven locations."

Senator Dr Claudia Schilling, who is responsible for Bremen's ports and science, adds: "Research and development and driving innovation are essential for the success of a hydrogen-based economy. We want to make northern Germany a hotspot for hydrogen research."

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Dr Stefan Rudolph (CDU), made it clear that the energy transition could only succeed with comprehensive sector coupling: "The development of a green hydrogen economy is an economic and structural policy opportunity for the coastal federal states. After all, green hydrogen is a key energy carrier for the energy transition. It is crucial that the electricity produced onshore and offshore from sustainable energy sources can be stored and made usable for other sectors - such as industry and transport. There is potential here for more value creation and also for sustainable jobs. That's why we need to work together to drive forward and implement the hydrogen strategy quickly."

Other topics of the conference:

Mobile phone coverage: The conferees agreed that a much faster pace must be set in the expansion of mobile radio coverage in the coastal region. Against this backdrop, the ministers and the senator once again appealed emphatically to the federal government to ensure, in dialogue with the Länder, that coverage in line with demand would be ensured as quickly as possible.

Planning acceleration: Lower Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs, Dr Bernd Althusmann, informed his state colleagues about the first results of the Interministerial Working Group on Planning Acceleration in Lower Saxony. He pointed to effective acceleration potentials in the environmental sector, especially through restrictions on the right of associations to sue, and called on his state colleagues to support the federal government in planned changes.

Northern German cooperation with China: In view of considerable political upheaval in China, the ministers, senators and senators consulted with Federal State Secretary Niels Annen (Federal Foreign Office) and Prof. Dr. Rolf Langhammer of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) on future trade relations with the world power. Both experts pointed out that investments in China still offered huge opportunities. At the same time, however, the world's second largest economy is currently experiencing a centralisation of political power that has not been seen for decades.

At the same time, debt is rising with growing imports and falling exports. A current account deficit is expected for the first time in two years. "Against this backdrop, the construction of the Silk Road, among other things, is likely to be reassessed and the project will probably lose its appeal in the future," said Langhammer. Both Langhammer and Annen described it as elementary for Germany and Europe to take a much more unified stance towards China in future than in the past. "Otherwise, China will continue to coolly exploit any weakness we show in Germany or Europe," said Annen.

German Maritime Centre: The German Maritime Centre (DMZ), founded two years ago and based in Hamburg, was presented to the conference participants by Managing Director Dr Wolfgang Sichermann. From the point of view of the ministers, senators, it is important to network the DMZ well with the other institutions in the maritime sector in order to jointly strengthen the clout of this area.

In this context, Sichermann referred to current studies commissioned by the DMZ. For example, funding opportunities for the sustainable modernisation of inland and coastal vessels are currently being explored. In addition, the experts are examining new financing options in the maritime sector at the international level.

Hamburg's Economics Senator Westhagemann and Schleswig-Holstein's Economics Minister Buchholz made it clear that the DMZ might have to place its focus even more clearly on research, development and innovation in the future. This would include the topic of hydrogen as well as future projects around the topics of safety and autonomous driving. In this context, Buchholz recalled the "CAPTin Kiel" project, a pilot project to develop an autonomous integrated mobility chain by combining clean bus and ferry transport in Kiel.

Download North German Hydrogen Strategy (PDF, 1.3 MB)
www.hamburg.de/...wasserstoff-strategie.pdf

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