(Chemnitz) – The hydrogen economy in Saxony could include up to 2030 jobs in 4.800 and generate around 1,7 billion euros in sales. In total, more than 150 Saxon companies and research institutions are concentrated in the Chemnitz, Dresden, Görlitz and Leipzig area. This emerges from a new study “Value creation potential of hydrogen for Saxony”, which HZwo eV and Chemnitz University of Technology carried out jointly, funded by the Saxon Ministry of Economics. Accordingly, 34 percent of 70 companies surveyed stated that they were already generating sales with hydrogen or fuel cell technologies. 91 percent expect their first sales in the next five years.
Compensation for industries declining due to structural change
“Saxony can look forward to the emerging hydrogen market with great confidence,” says Saxon Economics Minister Martin Dulig. The switch from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources offers “the opportunity for thousands of new jobs – especially in the regions affected by structural change”. Many of the components and subsystems required were similar to today's products from supplier, mechanical and plant engineering companies. The hydrogen economy therefore has “high compensation potential for industries that are declining due to structural change”.
“Many more Saxon companies could fundamentally benefit from the emerging hydrogen economy,” explains HZwo managing director Karl Lötsch. “We want to use the study to raise awareness of this at an early stage.” In Saxon universities and non-university research institutions, “intensive research into hydrogen technologies and fuel cells has been going on for many years,” says Thomas von Unwerth, one of the authors of the study and head of the Professorship for Alternative Vehicle Drives at Chemnitz University of Technology . The potential study with actor and market analysis underlines “that Saxony is well positioned for the hydrogen economy”. 
The study, which is based, among other things, on an online survey, expert interviews and a secondary source analysis, examined the energy value chain of the hydrogen economy from production to use as well as the product value chain from energy system and vehicle manufacturers to the supply industry. The study shows “sales and workforce potential for Saxon companies, but also strengths and weaknesses” and can “serve to derive recommendations for action for stakeholders in the Saxon hydrogen economy,” says Uwe Götze, head of the Professorship of Corporate Accounting and Controlling and Vice Rector, which is also involved in the study for transfer and further education at Chemnitz University of Technology. Six workshops are planned to introduce interested parties to the hydrogen economy.
“Hydrogen and Mobility Innovation Center”
The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) recently announced that Saxony has a chance of establishing the federal hydrogen center. The concept submitted under the name “Hydrogen and Mobility Innovation Center” (HIC) was successful in the first selection round for the national “Technology and Innovation Center Hydrogen Technology for Mobility Applications”. In addition to Chemnitz, the hydrogen technology user center in Pfeffenhausen (Bavaria) and the technology and innovation center for hydrogen technologies in Duisburg (North Rhine-Westphalia) advanced one round. In the second phase of the selection process, feasibility studies will now follow for the three finalists, which will be evaluated by the BMVI.
deep link
https://idw-online.de/de/news767790
Study
The study "Value creation potential of hydrogen for Saxony“ is available free of charge as a PDF (76 pages).
Workshop dates
July 06.07.2021, XNUMX – Electrolysers and fuel cells (cell components)
July 07.07.2021, XNUMX – Electrolysers and fuel cells (bipolar plates/collector plates)
July 08.07.2021, XNUMX – Electrolysers and fuel cells (stacks)
July 13.07.2021, XNUMX – Electrolysers and fuel cells (systems)
July 14.07.2021, XNUMX – Storage technologies for hydrogen
July 15.07.2021, XNUMX – Hydrogen economy in numbers
Details under http://hzwo.eu/projekte/hzwo-transfer/
Photos
Research into fuel cells and hydrogen technologies is carried out at Chemnitz University of Technology, including in the fuel cell laboratory of the Alternative Vehicle Drives Professorship. © TU Chemnitz / Jacob Müller
