Well-Attended Anniversary Event of h2-netzwerk-ruhr

State Secretary Höller Criticizes Funding Crisis

Over 100 guests were welcomed by Managing Director Dr. Désirée Schulte to the 15th anniversary of h2-netzwerk-ruhr e.V. at the Schwarzkaue of the former Schlägel & Eisen mine in Herten. Among them were many prominent actors in hydrogen technology from research, industry, associations, and politics.

The participants were welcomed by Herten’s Mayor Matthias Müller, who emphasized that Herten has been committed to hydrogen technology for over twenty years.

The State Government of North Rhine-Westphalia was represented by the State Secretary of the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy, Paul Höller. He emphasized that hydrogen plays a major role in the energy transition, particularly in the industrial sector, and that the state therefore remains committed to supporting the hydrogen economy. At the same time, he criticized that due to the Federal Constitutional Court’s decision on the federal budget, important H2 projects, such as the GetH2 Nukleus pipeline, have not yet received binding funding commitments and are now in limbo.

Keynote speaker at the event was Jasmin Kaboni-Voit, who heads RWE Generation SE and presented her company’s strategies for expanding renewable energies and hydrogen technology. RWE currently employs over 350 people in the hydrogen sector.

A lively panel discussion, moderated by Peter Brautmeier from h2-netzwerk-ruhr, featured Dr. Wiebke Lüke (WEW GmbH), Dr. Arnt Baer (Gelsenwasser AG), Jörg Kemna (Business Metropole Ruhr), Jan Matzoll MdL (Alliance 90/The Greens), and Dr. Thomas Kattenstein (EE Energy Engineers).

The event concluded with a retrospective on 15 years of network activities, presented by Volker Lindner in both an informative and entertaining manner, and an outlook on next year’s activities, presented by Dr. Kattenstein.

The day concluded with refreshments and networking. Many participants expressed that the anniversary event was exceptionally informative and had a wonderful atmosphere.