At its meeting on 21 June 2024, the National Hydrogen Council (NWR – Nationaler Wasserstoffrat) issued a new position statement on the importance of regional hydrogen clusters.
Regional systemic hydrogen clusters complement the current focus on centralised projects and enable a rapid hydrogen ramp-up across the country. Local applications, e.g. in industry and business parks or in the mobility sector, serve to test and scale complex technologies along the value chain and develop business models that are customised to suit specific needs. Against the backdrop of international competition for value creation and technology leadership, it is also important to realise the potential of regional hydrogen clusters and remove existing hurdles. This is particularly important in view of the German government’s goal of making Germany a leading provider of hydrogen technologies.
In its statement, the National Hydrogen Council emphasises the advantages of these clusters, particularly in the context of the transformation in the regions and strengthening the resilience of the energy system. However, the implementation of hydrogen clusters is currently hampered by various political and organisational framework conditions. For example, there are numerous specific hurdles for cooperation between stakeholders, project financing and the complicated approval procedures for hydrogen projects.
“Regional and local hydrogen projects offer a tremendous opportunity for SMEs and for accelerating the market ramp-up. With already mature technologies and committed local players, the domestic value chain for hydrogen is being established, from renewable energy plant manufacturers to component suppliers and a wide range of applications. This will enable scaling in the short term and support the transformation in the regions,” says Stefanie Peters, Managing Partner of the NEUMAN & ESSER GROUP and member of the National Hydrogen Council.
In order to leverage the potential of regional clusters in Germany as quickly as possible, the NWR has proposed nine measures to create a regulatory and organisational framework for regional clusters, which should be implemented jointly by the federal and state governments and the relevant regional players in administrations, offices and authorities. These should support hydrogen production within the framework of regional H2 clusters and facilitate the development and safeguarding of German industry and SMEs in these times of structural change.
The full “Regional H2 Clusters: The Hydrogen Ramp-up Requires Domestic Value Chains” position paper of 21 June 2024 is available for download (in German) here:
Position paper on regional H2 clusters (PDF)
The National Hydrogen Council (NWR – Nationale Wasserstoffrat)
With the adoption of the National Hydrogen Strategy, the German government established the National Hydrogen Council on 10 June 2020. The Council consists of 26 high-level experts from business, science and civil society who are not part of the public administration. The members of the Hydrogen Council have expertise in the areas of production, research and innovation, decarbonisation of industry, transport and building/heating, infrastructure, international partnerships, as well as climate and sustainability. The National Hydrogen Council is chaired by Katherina Reiche, CEO of Westenergie AG and former Parliamentary State Secretary.
The task of the National Hydrogen Council is to advise and support the State Secretary’s Committee for Hydrogen (Staatssekretärsausschuss für Wasserstoff) with proposals and recommendations for action in the implementation and further development of the Hydrogen Strategy.
All National Hydrogen Council publications are available for download here.
Source: National Hydrogen Council (www.wasserstoffrat.de)