Press release of the Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter from 04.02.2025
On February 3, 2025, Lower Saxony's Minister of Science and Culture Falko Mohrs personally handed over the funding decision on site in Salzgitter.
"The Hydrogen Campus Salzgitter is a central building block for the future of climate-neutral industry in Lower Saxony. In close cooperation between science, industry and regional players, we are creating the basis for the future-oriented further development of hydrogen technologies along the entire value chain and for advancing their application in practice. This targeted investment not only strengthens the innovative power of the region, but also makes a decisive contribution to the energy transition and sustainable value creation, which can develop exemplary impulses far beyond the region," explains Science Minister Mohrs.
The funds from the "zukunft.niedersachsen" program will flow into the implementation of the "Hydrogen Campus Salzgitter Innovation Network", which is being driven forward by the Fraunhofer IST in close cooperation with the TU Braunschweig. "The planned research work takes up the program goals of "Mission Hydrogen 2030" from the 8th Energy Research Program of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection BMWK and is oriented towards the national and northern German hydrogen strategy," explains Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Herrmann, Institute Director of the Fraunhofer IST and Chairman of the Board of Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter e.V.
"A particular focus of the planned work is on the further development of innovative hydrogen technologies and their production processes as well as on the development of digital simulation models for holistic value chains in the future hydrogen economy," adds Prof. Sabrina Zellmer, Deputy Director of the Institute and spokesperson for the joint project. "We will use the knowledge gained to further develop transfer projects and implement the results in teaching and learning opportunities."
The entire value chain will be covered, including the establishment of hydrogen supply chains, the decarbonization of industry and districts, the flexible production of components for fuel cells and electrolysers as well as fuel cell mobility. The Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter acts as a real-world laboratory here, enabling close networking between researchers and users. Michael Gensicke, CFO of Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter e.V. and Managing Director of Robert Bosch Elektronik GmbH, emphasizes: "Thanks to the trusting exchange with various players from research and development, politics and business, the Campus forms an important innovation platform for the participating companies that is unique in its form."
"The Salzgitter Hydrogen Campus is an example of the progress we can achieve through regional cooperation. The challenges of the energy transition can only be tackled locally. Our goal is to turn the transformation into real added value for the region," confirms Matthias Wunderling-Weilbier, State Secretary in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Regional Development, referring in this context to the achievements of the Braunschweig Regional Development Office headed by Dr. Ulrike Witt. Wunderling-Weilbier is Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Hydrogen Campus, which met for the first time today.
"Our Hydrogen Campus is a lighthouse project with significant appeal," says Mayor Frank Klingebiel: "With the Hydrogen Campus, we are taking a significant step towards a sustainable future at Lower Saxony's third-largest industrial location and creating new training and further education opportunities on site and thus a good basis for future-proof jobs in the hydrogen economy. This is a clear benefit for our city and the entire region."
For promotion
The funding of the accompanying scientific research at the Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter is part of the "zukunft.niedersachsen" program, with which the state government of Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation have approved a total of 145 million euros for pioneering research projects.
About the Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter e.V.
Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter e.V. is a non-profit association for the promotion and development of hydrogen technologies. Founded by nine key players from business, science and politics, the association pursues the goal of realizing hydrogen technologies along the entire value chain from production to use, taking into account economic and ecological aspects. It also serves both regionally and nationally as a training and further education platform for specialists and managers. The Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter e.V. acts as a lighthouse project for the demonstration of a decarbonized industrial region in the hydrogen economy and thus actively promotes climate-neutral hydrogen technologies as part of the National Hydrogen Strategy.
The members of the association are Allianz für die Region GmbH, Alstom Transport Deutschland GmbH, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, Ingenieurbüro Zammit GmbH, the district of Peine, MAN Energy Solutions SE, Robert Bosch Elektronik GmbH, Salzgitter AG, the city of Salzgitter, the Technical University of Braunschweig, TLK-Thermo GmbH, the VDI Braunschweiger Bezirksverein e.V. and WEVG Salzgitter GmbH & Co KG.