Duisburg After a successful start in Hamm with NRW Minister of Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur the day before, the Duisburg day of the Hy.Summit.Rhein.Ruhr hydrogen congress in the Mercatorhalle was all about the economic and political dimension of hydrogen. It dealt with questions such as: "Where is the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy?" or "How can we increase the pace?". The Hy.Summit was organized by the hydrogen association Hy.Region.Rhein.Ruhr e.V. from Duisburg.
"Here in the Ruhr region, we can do transformation!" "We need more speed." "We need to get into action!" "Politics must provide security." These were the key words in the welcome address by Duisburg's Lord Mayor Sören Link and in the first panel discussion of the day with Rasmus C. Beck, Rouven Beeck, Andre Boschem, Friedrich-Wilhelm Corzilius and Pascal Ledune, the heads of the economic development agencies of the participating cities of Duisburg, Bochum, Essen, Dortmund and Hamm. They thus provided the next speaker with a steep template: Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck.
He said - live from Berlin - that following the efforts to expand renewable energies, hydrogen has been a focus of the government for some time now. The decision on the hydrogen core network is therefore imminent. The first step is to reallocate and expand the transport network before tackling the distribution networks. A hydrogen grid acceleration law is planned for this purpose. "Everyone wants hydrogen," said the Vice-Chancellor, adding that the scale in Duisburg was so great that others would be drawn in.
Imports will be necessary to cover the high future demand. Habeck assumes that we will be able to cover around a third of our hydrogen requirements ourselves. The rest would have to come to us via pipelines or by sea. Everything is being done, with great emphasis, concluded the Minister of Economic Affairs, to turn strategies into reality.
Bernhard Osburg, CEO of thyssenkrupp Steel, then looked to the future of hydrogen with confidence: "Hydrogen has a future. We have to get out of coal!" ThyssenKrupp will become a driver of the hydrogen economy. "The chicken-and-egg problem has been solved," he announced. For the first direct reduction plant, ThyssenKrupp will need as much hydrogen every two hours as would fit in the Oberhausen gasometer, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The industrial transformation of our country has historic dimensions, said Osburg. "Aber Machen, das können wir." (analogous engl.: "But doing is our thing.")
Will the fuel cell prevail in mobility? This was discussed on the podium by ZBT Managing Director Peter Beckhaus and Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, Director of the Center for Automotive Research. Both agreed that fuel cell applications will find their place in mobility. However, opinions differed as to how the German economy would fare. The third and final day of the Hy.Summit.Rhein.Ruhr took place the following day in Bochum.
The city television STUDIO 47 reported. (german)
