Well-attended annual general meeting of h2-netzwerk-ruhr

Under “Corona conditions” – meaning in compliance with the necessary distancing and hygiene rules – the general meeting of h2-netzwerk-ruhr e.V. took place on July 2, 2020. The venue was a site of “old energy”: the old Scherlebeck colliery in Herten. There, an old colliery building was converted into a community center. This is also well-suited for conferences. The 30 attendees were able to find seats with the necessary distance from one another.

Chairman Volker Lindner and his deputy Dr. Emanuel Grün were thus able to welcome the largest number of participants of all previous general meetings. At first glance, this may be surprising, as people are currently trying to avoid gatherings as much as possible. At second glance, the high number of participants can be explained by the enormous increase in interest in the topic of hydrogen and the high number of new members who wanted to see how the association works.

The development of the number of members is also remarkable: it increased from 35 to 47 members from the beginning of 2019 to mid- 2020. This is an increase of over 30 percent. This not only illustrates the increased importance of hydrogen but also the continuously growing reputation of h2-netzwerk-ruhr. In addition to the activity and financial report for 2019, the agenda included the work plan for 2020 and the adoption of the budget for the current year.

Network staff member Dr. Michael Weber presented the activity report. As highlights of the past year, he presented, among others:

• the project initiation “Competence Region Electrolysis,”
• the opening of the H2 filling station in Herten,
• the support of the successful HyExperts application of the Recklinghausen district,
• the successful advisory board meeting and
• the adoption and distribution of a position paper to improve the regulatory framework for the production and use of hydrogen.

Treasurer Michael Groß was able to present annual financial statements that were several thousand euros better than originally planned. Due to the new members, the budget will increase in 2020, so that new activities can also be considered. In addition to the continuation of lobbying and public relations work (through a new image brochure), this is intended to be, in particular, the continuation of the project initiation for a “Demonstration and Operations Research Center for Electrolysis.” Here, the general meeting decided on the network’s participation in an expert report to be commissioned together with the IHK Nordwestfalen and WiN Emscher-Lippe on the opportunities and necessary steps for such a project. The report is to be completed this year.