As one of nine hydrogen regions in Germany, the district of Reutlingen has received support from the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI – Bundesministerium für Verkehr und digitale Infrastruktur) since 2020 through the HyStarter programme. This has resulted in a concept that was presented at the HyStarter closing event on Thursday, 14 October 2021, which was also attended by Dr. Andre Baumann, State Secretary in the Ministry for the Environment, Climate and Energy Management of Baden-Württemberg.
Over the course of a year, the district was supported in building up a network of stakeholders, raising awareness of the topic of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies as well as compiling initial project ideas in the field of hydrogen. About 20 stakeholders met at six strategy dialogues, mostly digitally, and jointly developed the ideas. The resulting concept identifies various production paths for green hydrogen in the region and deals with hydrogen applications on several levels: from use in fuel cell vehicles and application in industry to the generation of electricity and heat in the housing sector. In the course of the BMVI’s HyExperts follow-up funding programme, the ideas are to be developed further.
“It is always wonderful to see how committed people in this country, and especially here in the Reutlingen region, are to climate protection and the energy transition,” said State Secretary for the Environment, Andre Baumann in his welcoming address. He was extremely pleased to learn that the Reutlingen district and the Ostalbkreis district have now qualified for the next stage as HyExperts regions in a second round of competition. “With funding of 400,000 euros each from the federal government, the regions can now further substantiate and develop their concepts and project ideas so that practical implementation is made possible,” added Andre Baumann. The two districts are thus strengthened in their ambitions to further advance hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
District Administrator Dr. Fiedler was also very enthusiastic about the steps the district has taken in the field of hydrogen: “The funding from the HyStarter programme was a good starting point into the future topic of the hydrogen economy. A very committed network and many promising project ideas have emerged. With the commitment of the funding as a model region for green hydrogen and HyExperts, we are taking further important steps in the right direction. After all, hydrogen will make a decisive contribution here in the region to the energy and mobility transition.”
Support for municipalities and regions through the HyLand programme
Coordinated by NOW GmbH, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) has already been promoting the possibility for municipalities and regions to establish themselves as hydrogen regions since 2019 with the HyLand – Hydrogen Regions in Germany – project. The development of stakeholder landscapes, the creation of regional concepts and the implementation of these concepts are among the funded categories of the programme. More information is available at www.hy.land.
The concept may be viewed on the district’s website (in German): www.kreis-reutlingen.de/Wasserstoff-Region