iL-CURRENT
November 18, 2024
It's all in the mix: Innovation spirit and reality check at the H2 Forum
The premiere of the Clean Tech Innovation Day clearly showed that the complexity of the topic of hydrogen is a key issue and that it is important to carefully consider when, how and where the industrial production of H2 should ideally take place and where gaps in the value chain can be closed. At the Heidelberg Congress Center, almost 60 industry experts from Germany and abroad dealt extensively with the temporal and spatial relationships of the future technology of green hydrogen, in particular with the opportunities and challenges of electrolysis.
First things first: the excellent content from keynote speakers, speakers, moderators and participants contributed to the success of an event in Heidelberg's Bahnstadt, which was organized synergistically and complementarily by InnovationLab together with its two co-partners Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar and H2UB from Essen. A pleasant, constructive and professional atmosphere prevailed throughout - the congress center location with its state-of-the-art technology and the invitingly designed foyer with bar tables, coffee corner and catering counter contributed significantly to this.
Blick ins Podium: Dr. Doris Wittneben (vorne M.) von der Metropolregion Rhein ‒Neckar und iL‒Geschäftsführer Dr. Michael Kröger hören mit dem Fachpublikum der Keynote von Dr. Gunther Kegel (nicht im Bild) von Pepperl & Fuchs aufmerksam zu. Bild: Lukas Adler
Networking in the foreground
In addition to expert presentations, the focus was clearly on networking opportunities. All participants were able to find potential partners and begin to convince them of their scientific, economic and strategic orientation.
As the main organizer, InnovationLab sees itself as a technology transfer platform. Following the spin-off FLEXOO GmbH at the beginning of 2024, which specializes in the production of printed electronics and sensor technology, iL aims to focus on excellent research, innovative start-ups and technology transfer geared towards industrial implementation. In addition to green hydrogen and electrolysers, this also applies to the field of life science technologies.
"Our aim is to forge new alliances. The initial feedback from participants confirms that we were right to do this. It was repeatedly said that many new interesting contacts were made and that the hands-on program provided exciting insights and new impetus," says iL Managing Director Dr. Michael Kröger after the Clean Tech Innovation Day's event debut. In the days that followed, InnovationLab received positive feedback, which was certainly due to the quality of the contributions, but also to the smooth running of the event by the iL organization team.
Michael Kröger: Intensify cooperation with Noord-Brabant
From an organizer's perspective, the conference in the immediate vicinity was worthwhile both for the participants and for InnovationLab itself. First results? "Specifically for iL and the formation of consortia here in Heidelberg, we will now intensify our cooperation with Noord-Brabant as a result," explains Michael Kröger, "our aim is to connect companies from Baden-Württemberg and Noord-Brabant via iL as a platform. The interest from Noord-Brabant is huge - and they are already promoting Dutch partners in cooperation with iL. Now it's a matter of further coordination to support the partners on the Baden-Württemberg side in the same way."
German-Dutch cooperation is already being driven forward in several segments, including healthcare and data-driven healthcare innovation. The "Musterländle", just like the "Provincie Noord-Brabant" with the Brainport Industries Campus around Eindhoven and the Holst Centre there, is literally predestined to realize joint projects. Carl Dortmans, representing the provincial government, and representatives of the Holst Centre innovation hub have committed themselves to cross-border cooperation in the field of electrolysers.
As the local metropolitan region has been a hydrogen model region for several years, especially in the mobility sector, the response from companies, start-ups and institutions from the local and regional environment has been very good. This has created a spirit of optimism, even though the failure of the Ampel coalition has inevitably raised new questions in the political arena. Where will the energy transition and technological transformation lead? What will happen to the Hydrogen Acceleration Act? What about the planned simplification and digitalization of planning and approval procedures? How can electricity be generated from renewable energies for the production of green hydrogen? Many questions that require answers. Regardless of all these imponderables and uncertainties, the H2 experts are convinced of the technological range of existing solutions in electrolysis, as the Clean Tech Innovation Day clearly illustrated.
Informative and entertaining: Keynote speaker Dr. Gunther Kegel at the Clean Tech Innovation Day. Picture: Lukas Adler
The metropolitan region as a hotspot for hydrogen
Am 24. Oktober hatte die Fachveranstaltung „Wasserstoff aus der Region für die Region“ im Mannheimer John Deere Forum stattgefunden. Insofern passte die Tagung in Heidelberg im Nachgang und vom Timing her. „Was mich besonders freut, ist die Beteiligung und das Interesse aus der Metropolregion. Wir haben mit dem Clean Tech Innovation Day neben Branchen‒Experten auch Unternehmen erreichen können, die großes Interesse, aber noch keinen zufriedenstellenden Zugang zum Thema grüner Wasserstoff haben“, so Michael Kröger in seiner Retrospektive über die Metropolregion als Hotspot für H2, „als Zugpferd für das Thema industrielle Transformation hat Gunther Kegel lebhaft dargestellt, wo wir in den vier Sektoren Industrie, Haushalte, Mobilität und Handel und Dienstleistungen hinmüssen. Wenn wir es richtig angehen, bringen wir Wohlstand und wirtschaftliche Unabhängigkeit in Einklang mit Umweltverträglichkeit. Mich motiviert das zu sagen: Packen wir es hier in der Metropolregion an! Frau Doris Wittneben und die MRN GmbH sind da wichtige Treiber.“
The panel discussion, led by moderator Dr. Doris Wittneben, focused primarily on practical examples of the transfer of hydrogen technologies from the starting point of research to economically viable business models. Success factors, market conditions and "use cases" (applications of H2 technologies) were examined from different perspectives by the "panelists" Jessica Otto (BFE Institute for Energy and Environment), Bernd Reuter (Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection and Energy Baden-Württemberg), Rolf Schmitt (Managing Director of bhyo) and Dr. Pierre Faché (Smart Hub Manager Innovation & Clean Tech, Province of Flemish Brabant/Belgium). At the end, Doris Wittneben stated: "We urgently need to balance demand and production." Technology, cost reduction, capacities, investors and political support, including the adaptation of regulations, are the decisive factors for ensuring acceleration in practice.
International touch: Carl Dortmans (left) and Dr. Pierre Faché (center) from the Netherlands and Belgium. Picture: Lukas Adler
Gunther Kegel with an informative overview
Dr. Gunther Kegel, CEO of Pepperl & Fuchs, opted for a national-international overall view in his keynote speech "Industrial transformation for a sustainable economy". For him, there are too many "fair-weather captains" in a massive economic change process. Over-regulated Europe has lost its competitiveness, especially in comparison to the growth market in China. The "huge potential of technologies in Germany" must be exploited again. With moderation and purpose, weighing up all criteria and energy sources, including a precisely balanced price structure on the market and an urgently needed orchestration of all technologies and future technologies. "The energy transition is an energy efficiency transition," Gunther Kegel warned overly bold optimists and called for an analytical reality check.
The participants were impressed by Kegel's clear stance and comprehensibility. The experienced managing director of a "hidden champion" Pepperl & Fuchs (6,300 employees at 80 locations) backed up his statements with figures, informatively covering everything from the steel industry to the performance of heat pumps and the advantages of electric cars, and explaining that every step in the production of green hydrogen is complicated, energy-intensive and therefore not cheap. Gunther Kegel also stated wittily: "We need more engineers in Germany again to save the world."
Speaking of young talent: More attention needs to be paid to them at universities and in the start-up scene in order to raise awareness of technology and technology transfer. Michael Kröger echoes this sentiment: "Start-ups are essential for technology transfer and the innovation landscape. It is really important to promote them effectively. This allows the state of the art to be constantly advanced in international competition and a leading position to be achieved and defended. As iL, we offer such start-ups the necessary industrialization platform and integration into industrial value chains. This applies to material science-oriented start-ups such as Ionysis, ElementarHy and Hydrogenea as well as Icodos as a system provider for green methanol and also CibusCell, which, like SAP - but for the hydrogen economy - intelligently reduces costs by up to 20 percent with software solutions."
Start-ups from all over Germany in focus: group photo after the first session. Picture: Lukas Adler
Start-ups as drivers in the H2 ecosystem
Start-ups are key drivers in the H2 ecosystem - modern, open and flexible. They deserve start-up funding, a wealth of opportunities and resources to establish themselves in the competitive market and to be able to connect with larger, financially strong companies. The start-up session, easily moderated by Dr. Aljoscha Frede from H2UB, proved to be an invigorating element at the Clean Tech Innovation Day. "For me, it was encouraging to see this entrepreneurial spirit that generally characterizes start-ups," says Dr. Tanja Benedict, authorized signatory and networker at InnovationLab, "Start-ups and their spirit belong to iL."
The Clean Tech Innovation Day has clearly shown that many cogs need to be turned immediately in order to meet the demand for - green - hydrogen and achieve the goal of climate neutrality in Baden-Württemberg by 2040. The assessment of decarbonization, risk management, digitalization and demographics on a global scale must be carried out in close coordination between science, business, politics and society.
It can only be done together - with a concentrated formation of alliances and partnerships as well as the willingness to implement technologies in clean, sustainable and energy-efficient industries of the future.
Small gift: Michael Kröger presents Jens Schäfer (middle) from P3 Energy Solutions and Dr. Matthias Breitwieser (right) from Ionysis with gifts at the end of the Clean Tech Innovation Day at the Heidelberg Congress Center. Picture: Lukas Adler
Press releases on the Clean Tech Innovation Day
Joachim Klaehn
Head of Communications
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