The result of the competition to determine locations for the Innovation and Technology Centre (ITZ) under the umbrella of the German Centre for Future Mobility has been confirmed. The outcome was announced today.
Federal Minister Andreas Scheuer: “With hydrogen, we are building a mobility of the future, which is why we are spreading out the Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Centre across the whole of Germany. The result of our site competition is 3 plus 1: Chemnitz, Duisburg, Pfeffenhausen and North Germany. We want to holistically support hydrogen and fuel cell technology – in the North, South, East and West. The locations address the varying needs of industry and have different focuses. It is important to us that every location integrates its own strengths. We are considering all modes of transport like rail vehicles, ships, cars and planes. This is the only way we can keep jobs in Germany and at the same time, design our mobility in a climate-friendly way. To enable the sites to start their work quickly, we are making up to 290 million euros available until the end of 2024. The federal states will also lend support to the projects. Today’s decision marks another important step we’re taking on the path to making Germany a ‘hydrogen country’.”
The Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Centre (Das Innovations- und Technologiezentrum Wasserstoff – ITZ)
Our motivation in creating the ITZ is to promote fuel cell technology in Germany. With its creation, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure is implementing one of the action points of the National Hydrogen Strategy of June 2020. The hydrogen centre is to establish a development and test facility that will offer services that are either not available on the market at all, or not sufficiently available. A special focus will be placed on strengthening the competitiveness of start-ups, business founders as well as small- and medium-sized businesses. Internationally, the ITZ is to contribute to setting technical and economic standards. The ITZ will become part of the network of the German Centre for Future Mobility.
The Chemnitz concept:
Objective and content orientation:
- Development and test environment
- Certification
- Norms and standardisation
- Education and training
- Development and certification environment
- HIC academy – Education and training facility
- Technology and start-up centre for hydrogen technologies as well as start-up environment
- Integrating existing expertise and infrastructure and creating international visibility
- Transformation of the supply industry
Timeline:
- Construction starts in 2022, opening planned for 2024
Technical orientation (Focuses include):
- FC stack, FC system and FC drive
- Refuelling systems and components
Transport areas:
- Rail vehicles (locomotives/railcars and trams)
- Passenger vehicles
- Commercial vehicles (trucks (3.5 t to 40 t), buses, agricultural and construction machinery)
Location concept:
- New building on the Chemnitz Technology Campus, adjacent to TU Chemnitz and Fraunhofer IWU and ENAS
- Further satellite locations at participating companies/SMEs/partners (incl. test tracks – road and rail, TU Dresden)
Consortium partners and leaders:
- Hzwo e.V. (Innovation cluster)
- TU Chemnitz, Fraunhofer IWU
Other companies/industries (companies, clusters and science derived from the LOIs of the location concepts):
- Medium-sized (supply) companies and (vehicle) development companies for drive technologies
- Testing and certification service providers (e.g. SLG)
- A few OEMs (e.g. BMW Leipzig)
Other clusters and networks:
- Automotive clusters (e.g. AMZ)
- Energy clusters (e.g. energy saxony)
- Smart Rail Connectivity Campus (SRCC)
- Education and training (e.g. IHK, HWK)
Other scientific partners:
- TU Dresden
- Fraunhofer ENAS and IWU
The Duisburg concept:
Objective and content orientation:
- Development support from idea to product
- From idea to development (development phase)
- From development to market (testing and approval phase)
- Start-up support and advice together with the satellites
- Development work and accompanying tests at the satellite locations
- Measurement, inspection and testing procedures at TIW
- International standards and pre-normative work (e.g. technical criteria and qualities)
- Education and training with participating institutions and partners (e.g. HKM, IHK, TÜV)
- Technology transfer and user support
Timeline:
- Set-up phase and first use of existing infrastructure from 2022 (‘ready to go’)
- Establishment and operational phase from 2024
Technical orientation:
- FC stack, subsystems, system components. Focus: energy supply to the drive train
- Battery and vehicle integration – in the satellites
- Working exclusively with compressed H2 gas
Transport areas:
- Rail vehicles (locomotives/regional trains)
- Heavy goods transport and commercial vehicles as well as buses (heavy-duty)
- Trucks (long-haul)
- Inland waterway transport
- Aviation (small aircraft)
Location concept:
- Satellite concept with the main location of TIW in Duisberg
- Satellite with respective functions/focuses in Aachen, Duisburg, Jülich, Neuss, Cologne, Aldenhoven, Düsseldorf
Consortium partners and leaders:
- The hydrogen and fuel cell center ZBT
- Incl. Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann, Rheinmetall, Startport, FEV, FCI, VDE, TÜV
Other companies/industries:
- Logistics, port and fleet operators
- MTU Aero and steel and lightweight construction
- Automotive supply industry
- OEM Nfz and passenger cars (incl. IVECO, Deutz, Ford)
- Energy companies and infrastructure operators (incl. Shell, Westenergie)
- Rail vehicles and mobility providers
- Testing and standardisation service providers
Other clusters and networks:
- Various H2 clusters and associations
- Business and industry associations
Other scientific partners:
- RWTH Aachen with various institutions
- Colleges and universities in NRW
- Fraunhofer IPT, DLR, Forschungszentrum Jülich
The Pfeffenhausen concept:
Objective and content orientation:
- Promoting key innovation and market entry
- Testing and development environments for promoting market entry and the activation of medium-sized businesses
- Technological leadership and standardisation
- Knowledge transfer / consultancy for SMEs and start-ups/ start-up environment
- Strong focus on international visibility and networking (international industry cooperation)
- Concept envisages a four-pillar structure: 1. Transfer centre for research, 2. Non-profit organisations, 3.Commercial entities, 4. External partners
Timeline:
- Construction starts in 2022, Operational readiness 2025
Technical orientation:
- FC drive technology, FC stacks, compressed gas and cryogenic tank technologies (e.g. high safety standards for fire tests)
- Focus on liquid and cryogenic technology
Transport areas:
- Passenger cars
- Commercial cars (trucks and buses)
- Components for (light) aviation and (inland) shipping
Location concept:
- Single site (Greenfield) with new construction and connection to the planned HyBayern electrolyser Landshut/ integration into the HyPerformer hydrogen region HyBayern
Consortium partners and lead partners:
- Hynergy GmbH
- Planning and development companies
- TÜV Süd
Other companies / industries:
- OEMs from the automotive industry and commercial vehicles (e.g. BMW, Daimler, MAN)
- (SME) drive train supply industry
- SMEs e.g. in the fields of compressors, mechanical engineering, new mobility
- Aerospace (e.g. Airbus, Ariane)
Other clusters and networks:
- Hydrogen clusters and H2 centres
- Energy clusters
- Electronics clusters
Other scientific partners:
- TUM München, FAU Nürnberg-Erlangen
- HS Landshut, Techn. HS Ingolstadt
- Fraunh. IIS + IISB + ISE (Freiburg)
- Helmholtz-Institut Erlangen-Nürnberg
ITZ North (Bremen/Bremerhaven, Hamburg and Stade)
The concept focussing on shipping and aviation by Bremen/Bremerhaven, Hamburg and Stade is about a service centre geared towards small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups, segment-specific test and innovation centres as well as laboratory capacities. The focus is on the development and integration of fuel cell systems and corresponding components, the hybridization of drives, refuelling concepts, logistics, storage and processing of green hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels as well as the testing of components and systems. Furthermore, competences on standardization and certification issues are pooled with the close involvement of classification societies. ‘ITZ North’ comes directly about as a result of many years of successful cooperation between the three northern German neighbouring regions.
Well over 100 companies from shipyards, aircraft construction, suppliers, the energy industry, infrastructure, shipping companies, engineering companies, certification companies as well as associations, universities and non-university research institutes have already voiced their support for the project in advance.
The location competition
In April of this year, 3 locations were deemed winners of the first competition phase for participation in the feasibility study for another ITZ site selection. These were the three locations of Chemnitz, Duisburg and Pfeffenhausen in the Landshut district. A northern German cluster for maritime and aviation applications from Bremerhaven, Hamburg and Stade were also selected to prepare a feasibility study. The BMVI commissioned a service provider – a consortium led by Prognos AG, to evaluate the location concepts and conduct a feasibility analysis. Following an intensive evaluation process of the individual location concepts to implement the ITZ, as well as the survey of concrete requirements with the involvement of industry in the field of hydrogen and fuel cell technology, the site choice has now been made.
The German Centre for Future Mobility (Das Deutsche Zentrum Mobilität der Zukunft – DZM)
Spread across several locations, the German Centre for Future Mobility is the creation of a space where the mobility of tomorrow can be reimagined and developed. On the basis of new technological possibilities, the centre is to find answers to questions about how people can move around and how goods can be transported.
The DZM will create the necessary space to laterally rethink, develop and directly test in practice future mobility concepts creatively, innovatively and in an interdisciplinary manner (through a think tank, development centres, and a practical campus).
A scientific link is to be established via the relevant chairs in close cooperation with industry through joint research and innovation projects. This also involves testing new technologies until they are ready for market and support until new companies are founded. The key areas of development include hydrogen technologies, synthetic fuels, innovation logistics concepts and above all digital, platform-based mobility concepts.