WG2: Expert Workshop on Hydrogen Hubs

We hosted an insightful expert Workshop on hydrogen hubs as part of WG2 of the Japanese-German Energy Partnership. Industry representatives and public authorities from both countries exchanged their hydrogen hub experiences and discussed respective milestones and bottlenecks. After a warm welcome by Tomohiko Adachi from the METI, and Dr. Wolfram Wilde from the BMWK, the first part of the workshop gave room to political perspectives on the planning and implementation of hydrogen hubs by NOW GmbH, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Energy Agency of the Fukushima Prefecture. They agreed that strategic planning involving all stakeholders and good public-private cooperation is key for the development of a hydrogen ecosystem and that hydrogen hubs constitute the perfect format for engaging multiple actors, promoting synergies and lowering uncertainties. The second part of the workshop turned to practical perspectives on business engagement in hydrogen hubs. Dr. Keita Nakajima from Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation presented the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field (FH2R) where solar energy is used for producing green hydrogen, and Bastian Gerstner-Riewer from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries EMEA, Ltd. gave an overview of the state and progress of the Hamburg Green Hydrogen Hub. The subsequent discussion shed light on the crucial role of overcoming regulatory challenges and the synchronization of funding schemes for de-risking. Moreover, it emphasized the need for both local and national governments’ support. We would like to thank all participants for their presence and engagement in the discussions!