General Assembly in the Schwarzkaue

h2-netzwerk-ruhr meets at a historic location

Representatives from 30 member institutions met for the annual General Assembly of h2-netzwerk-ruhr e.V. on Monday, June 28, 2021, at the Schlägel und Eisen mine in Herten. This colliery was one of the large and modern mines in the Emscher-Lippe region, but it was merged with the Ewald mine as early as 1987. In recent years, the colliery’s Schwarzkaue (black changing room) was transformed into a stylish meeting space . It offered enough space to meet in person again under COVID-19 conditions—with sufficient distance. The network’s board was particularly pleased by the presence of the Chairman of HyCologne, Dr. Albrecht Möllmann.

In addition to the usual agenda items such as the activity report and work plan, this time the focus was also on amendments to the statutes and new elections for the board. The resolutions on these matters demonstrated the great unity of the association members: they were all passed unanimously.

This was accompanied by an expansion of the board, which will be strengthened in the future by Friederike Konold, Gelsenwasser AG, and Janina Senner, Gas- und Wärme-Institut. Chairman Volker Lindner was not only pleased that the board could be reinforced by two women, but above all by the expertise that the two project managers—Ms. Senner as an engineer and Ms. Konold as an economist—will bring to the board’s work.

Expert report on electrolysis manufacturing is available

In the activity report for 2020, Volker Lindner highlighted the activities the network was able to carry out despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational work with schools suffered the most—this was no longer possible from March 2020. In the area of lobbying, however, there were numerous discussions with politicians and participation in committees of the regional government and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The network’s demands regarding the regulatory framework for H2 production were largely implemented with the federal government’s current climate protection laws.

One of the focal points of the past year was the preparation of an expert report on the industrialization of electrolysis manufacturing in the Ruhr area. The h2-netzwerk-ruhr had gained the support of IHK Nord Westfalen and WiN-Emscher-Lippe to jointly commission Steinbeis 2i GmbH for the study. The report has been available since May of this year. It will be presented here shortly.

New network and project development presents work plan

The work plan for 2021 was presented for the first time by Dr. Frank Koch, who succeeded Dr. Michael Weber, who left the Energy Agency NRW, on March 1, 2021 . Together with his colleague Tayhan Özer, he supports the network through trade fair visits, member communication, preparation of specialist events, and the recruitment of new members.

Speaking of new members: For the year 2021, h2-netzwerk-ruhr e.V. has set itself a new goal : to reach sixty members by the end of the year. Given the strong growth in 2020 and the first half of 2021, this is not an unrealistic goal.

As further planning for this year, two member evenings were considered as in-person events: one evening is to take place at Fraunhofer UMSICHT in Oberhausen, the other at Westnetz’s “Smart Operating Site” in Metelen.

Title photo: General Assembly at a historic location: The Schwarzkaue of the Schlägel und Eisen mine.