03/03/2023
Source: Study "Hydrogen in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region Analysis of Competencies, Opportunities and Challenges"
Study proves hydrogen potential of Nuremberg
The study "Hydrogen in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region - Analysis of Competencies, Opportunities and Challenges" was presented on March 3, 2023. The study, which was prepared by the Nuremberg Energy Campus together with the partners Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Nuremberg University of Applied Sciences Georg Simon Ohm, ENERGIEregion Nürnberg e.V. and Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS on behalf of the Economics and Science Department of the City of Nuremberg, certifies: the City and Nuremberg Metropolitan Region have the potential to become an innovation center for hydrogen technologies - combined with new opportunities for value creation and employment.
150 players are currently active in the topic of hydrogen in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region, 90 of them companies. The opportunities for further growth are great: it is forecast that the metropolitan region can generate between a quarter of a billion and a billion euros in new value added in the hydrogen economy by 2030. Economics and Science Officer Dr. Michael Fraas says: "Nuremberg has what it takes to become a technology provider region for sustainable hydrogen technologies. Hydrogen is already contributing to regional value creation, especially through the export of technology and the generation of knowledge. In short: We are a hydrogen opportunity region!"
The hydrogen core competencies of the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region lie in the areas of electrolysis plants, hydrogen storage and fuel cells for stationary and mobile applications. Complementary industries such as mechanical engineering, process engineering and industrial IoT are also well established and can quickly adapt their offerings to the ramp-up of hydrogen technologies and contribute important know-how. At the Nuremberg site, a top research and development cluster has formed around the Nuremberg Energy Campus and the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nuremberg for Renewable Energies.
Markus Rützel, Managing Director of the Nuremberg Energy Campus, emphasizes, "The Nuremberg Energy Campus, as an interdisciplinary energy research cooperation, bundles and coordinates the various competencies that its partners bring to cross-institutional research. Like all other energy topics, the development of hydrogen technologies requires a holistic approach in order to implement a system-oriented solution concept in the market. Starting with the production of green hydrogen from renewable energies, through transport and storage to application, the Nuremberg Energy Campus is the research partner in the region that actively uses both technology knowledge and networking with other research institutions and companies. These success factors will be developed even more strongly for the region in the future."
In the benchmark with the other metropolitan regions in Germany, Nuremberg positions itself in fourth place. According to a recent study by the European Patent Office and the International Energy Agency, Nuremberg is also TOP 5 regional cluster in Germany for hydrogen innovations, measured by the number of patent applications.
Priv.-Doz. Dr. Tassilo Schuster, Senior Project Manager at Fraunhofer IIS, says: "The focus of the local hydrogen economy will be on the product-related value chain, i.e. the development, production, distribution and export of specific hydrogen key technologies. Special attention of future efforts should therefore be paid to building a high-performance labor market with a high availability of well-trained specialists, shaping a hydrogen-affine education and research landscape with a direct transfer of research results to industry, and creating favorable framework conditions for business activity. The strength of associated industries in the metropolitan region, such as mechanical engineering or specialized providers of digital solutions, also contributes to the attractiveness of the metropolitan region as a technology provider region."
The study "Hydrogen in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region - Analysis of Competencies, Opportunities and Challenges" also sheds light on the application potential of hydrogen in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region. With an overall lower generation potential of green power from renewable energies compared to gas regions near the coast, there is also a lack of large-scale consumers for hydrogen locally; such as large steel mills or chemical industry. With a forced expansion of renewable energies, green hydrogen could be produced mathematically in 2030 with surplus electrical energy by electrolysis on site in the amount of about 9 to 10 TWh.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reinhard German, Chair of Computer Science 7 (Computer Networks and Communication Systems) at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, explains: "However, strong fluctuations in the available power with very large power peaks are to be expected. With maximum expansion of renewable energies and battery capacities, electrolysis can thus be operated at all in 2030 at most 32 percent of the time, and often only with low outputs. To completely absorb the surplus, electrolysis plants with very large capacities would therefore be required, which would then be underutilized. However, if one accepts the low utilization to be expected in the metropolitan region and also uses power peaks of renewable generation, there is a not inconsiderable generation potential for hydrogen. It is therefore important to identify combined operating strategies for power system assets in the future, especially for batteries and hydrogen storage." As part of the study, the Chair of Computer Science 7 had simulated the energy flows in the region in different scenarios.
Possible application scenarios for green hydrogen are in the regional paper, glass and metal industries, as well as, in perspective, in heavy-duty transport and in the use of electrolysers to stabilize the power grid. Good locations for hydrogen production can be found where the hydrogen and by-products of electrolysis (heat, oxygen) can be used directly.
If the mobility and logistics sector is looked at more closely, very specific fields of application emerge where hydrogen drives can be worthwhile. Scientific research is currently taking place in the field of heavy-duty transport, among others, but also for rail solutions and in aerospace.
Prof. Dr. Frank Opferkuch, head of the Competence Center Energy Technology at the Nuremberg University of Applied Sciences Georg Simon Ohm, says: "Heavy-duty commercial vehicles with fuel cells or hydrogen engines can trigger a demand of up to 240 tons of hydrogen per day in the Nuremberg metropolitan region. To supply these vehicles, up to 55 new H2 refueling stations will then be needed along the traffic axes. This means that the mobility and logistics sector has great potential for application and value creation. However, future environmental regulations, the upcoming introduction of automated driving, the further digitization of logistics, the still insufficient degree of maturity of new, competing drive systems, and the still incomplete supply systems for electricity and hydrogen currently make forecasts on volumes and timing uncertain."
Lastly, it is recommended that the scientific competencies of universities, colleges and applied research be bundled in a hydrogen knowledge center and that a metropolitan coordination office on hydrogen be created; this should further promote networking, knowledge and technology transfer.
The study can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.nuernberg.de/internet/wirtschaft/wasserstoff.html
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