Ruhr hydrogen network established

After HyCologne, the new association is the second regional cluster of its kind in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany. Dr Frank Koch of the NRW Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Competence Network welcomes the fact that the cities co-ordinate their hydrogen-related activities: “the regional cluster strengthens the work of the NRW Competence Network and vice versa. One staff member of the Competence Network has been made available to support the newly founded hydrogen network.”

Silicon Valley
By joining forces, the seven ‘founding fathers' – including the cities of Herten, Bottrop, Marl and Gladbeck – hope to gain international recognition. They would like to “become the ‘Silicon Valley’ of this new technology,” as explains the head of the municipal planning and building control office, mr Volker Lindner, during an event in Bottrop at which the association was established.

The alliance agrees that in time the economy should benefit and new jobs should be provided. However, Lindner remains realistic: “the technology is still in an early phase and will mature in our area.”

Busy bees
North Rhine-Westphalia as whole, and the Ruhr area in particular, already boasts a lot of hydrogen-related activities: several companies are developing fuel cells. In Bottrop and Herten, regenerative production of hydrogen takes place, industrial hydrogen is available in a pipeline from Marl, and Duisburg provides know-how through its centre for fuel cell technology. Furthermore, the region operates a fleet of fuel cell vehicles (Hychain) and in 2010, the city of Essen will host the world hydrogen conference.

Source article

h2-netzwerk-ruhr e.V. gegründet

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