A climate-neutral Germany needs hydrogen as an energy carrier and a functioning hydrogen economy. The Living Labs of the Energy Transition (German: Reallabore der Energiewende), funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, are testing the development of hydrogen technologies on an industrial scale. In this way, they bring hydrogen into practice.
At present, the hydrogen sector is highly dynamic. Electrolysers with a capacity of 10 GW are to be installed in Germany by 2030. A hydrogen infrastructure is to be created so that hydrogen can be used in industry and beyond. Based on the experience of the living labs, the following need for action can be derived for the start-up phase of the large-scale projects required for this:
- Projects on the scale and with the self-image of the living labs require planning and legal certainty. Implementation will only take place if a functioning business model is also in prospect.
- In order for business models to emerge in the market ramp-up phase, well thought-out incentive systems are needed. Their effectiveness must be checked regularly.
- Approval procedures must be simplified and accelerated. This is the only way to ensure timely large-scale implementation and a positive contribution to the energy transition.
This report, titled "How can the market ramp-up of hydrogen be accelerated?", identifies these and other needs for action and derives approaches for addressing these needs for action. The report is currently only available in German.
Living Labs of the Energy Transition
The Living Labs of the Energy Transition are innovation projects on an industrial scale and in a real-world environment. The Trans4ReaL project, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, has the task of providing scientific support for the Living Labs of the Energy Transition with a focus on hydrogen technologies and sector coupling within the framework of transfer research, and to examine their findings across the board. Trans4ReaL classifies the findings on challenges and hurdles of the living labs. These are shared with science, politics, business and society in the form of action approaches. In this way, the project contributes to the scaling of the findings and supports the market ramp-up of hydrogen.
The interdisciplinary Trans4ReaL consortium consists of the Forschungsstelle für Energiewirtschaft (FfE, Research Centre for Energy Economics), the Dechema Gesellschaft für Chemische Technik und Biotechnologie (Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology), ZBT - The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Center, the Agora Energiewende, the Stiftung Umweltenergierecht (Foundation for Environmental Energy Law), the Ruhr University Bochum and the Technical University of Munich.
Trans4ReaL will continue to accompany the living labs and publish approaches for action. In this way, the challenges that arise in the following phases of the projects are also analysed and prepared.
Download the report (PDF)
