HyExpert: Hydrogen Region North-East Lower Saxony

In north-eastern Lower Saxony, consisting of eleven rural districts, the region began positioning itself as a pioneer in the hydrogen economy back in 2018. This gave rise to the Hydrogen Network North-East Lower Saxony, known as H2.N.O.N. The district of Osterholz, as initiator and coordinator, is located in the north-eastern part of Lower Saxony on the border with Bremen. It leads the region's activities within ARTIE, the regional network for technology, innovation and development.

The main focus of the first flagship project is on mobility. H2.N.O.N was awarded the title "HyExperts" for the project "Freight transport with green hydrogen - Future Mobility". The aim is to link the local generation of renewable energies, such as wind power and biogas, with freight transport (trucks, public transport, waste disposal) through the use of hydrogen technologies, while keeping an eye on the entire value chain.

The network is supported by various organizations, including the Lüneburg Office for Regional Development (ArL), the Stade Chamber of Industry and Commerce for the Elbe-Weser region, the Lüneburg-Wolfsburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Stade-Lüneburg-Braunschweig Chamber of Crafts and several districts. The focus is on the committed companies in the region, which currently have a large number of trucks, buses, filling stations and renewable generation capacity.

H2.N.O.N is particularly active in the field of mobility.

The funding will be used to realize studies and concepts, from production to use in hydrogen mobility and road transport. The goal is an integrated business plan that will form the basis for further action. A consortium consisting of the companies Becker Büttner Held Consultung and Energy Engineers was commissioned to draw up the plan.

You can find out more about the HyLand regions here.

HyLand is a competition organized by the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport to promote the hydrogen ramp-up in Germany. More information here.

More information and contact:

H2.N.O.N

Contact: Roland Hamelmann: r.hamelmann@h2non.de

Website

HyStarter: Hydrogen region East Frisia

The coastal region of East Frisia in the far northwest of Lower Saxony is made up of the three districts of Aurich, Leer and Wittmund as well as the independent city of Emden. The region covers an area of 3,142 square kilometers and is already a pioneer of the energy transition thanks to its location on the coast. The region has an abundant supply of renewable energies, particularly due to wind energy, which is why the development of a green hydrogen economy is also being promoted locally. The H2-Ostfriesland initiative was founded for this purpose and successfully applied to become a HyStarter region as part of the HyLand competition.

In the region with its approximately 469,000 inhabitants, the H2-Ostfriesland initiative has been formed by the four local authorities, Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for East Friesland and Papenburg and MARIKO GmbH to work on solutions for a sustainable hydrogen economy. To this end, the initiative aims to help initiate hydrogen projects, be available to answer questions and provide ideas for regional players and network relevant players who are involved in research and project work in the field of hydrogen.

Due to the high supply of wind energy, the planned hydrogen activities in the region include in particular the production of green hydrogen through electrolysis, but also the construction of hydrogen filling stations and the initiation and development of hydrogen projects in the areas of research, development and innovation. In addition, a hydrogen development center is to be set up, a hydrogen network is to be established in East Frisia and cross-border cooperation in the field of hydrogen with the Netherlands is to be established.

Network of strong partners

The aim is also to position East Frisia nationally as a green hydrogen region. Numerous players from business and society are involved in the hydrogen initiative, including B.u.S.
Metallverarbeitungs GmbH, B+ INGENIEUR Gesellschaft mbH, Enercon GmbH, EWE AG, Gebr. Decker GmbH, H2Nord GmbH & Co. KG, SCORE-Tankstellen und Mineralölhandels-GmbH, Spedition Weets GmbH, STORAG ETZEL GmbH, Weser-Ems Busverkehr GmbH (WEB) and many other companies and organizations.

Successful application as a "HyStarter hydrogen region"

With its renewable energy generation plants, East Frisia is making a major contribution to the energy transition. The region has also been able to officially call itself a "HyStarter hydrogen region" since 2021. Planning for the hydrogen region began in January 2021, when the Ostfrieslandplan working group set up the "Hydrogen Round Table", which is made up of representatives from the districts of Aurich, Leer and Wittmund, the independent city of Emden, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for East Frisia and Papenburg, the Office for Regional Development, Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences and MARIKO gemeinnützige GmbH from Leer. In April 2021, the East Frisia region then applied for the HyLand II competition - and was successfully named a HyStarter region in September 2021. The region received one year of technical and organizational support in the development of a regionally tailored hydrogen concept and the formation of a network for local hydrogen players, with a special focus on transport applications. HyStarter was an important building block for networking the regional players, pooling their knowledge and experience and developing initial concrete project ideas.

At the HyStarter Ostfriesland strategy dialog in April 2023, possibilities for developing the regional hydrogen economy were discussed, among other things.

More information and contact:

Further information can be found at the H2-Ostfriesland initiative. To the website

H2-East Frisia

Birte Ricklefs

E-mail: bricklefs@landkreis-aurich.de
04941 16 8035