The state of North Rhine-Westphalia wants to accelerate the development of a forward-looking hydrogen economy. That is why it is now funding the first H2UB hydrogen hub, in which Open Grid Europe GmbH (OGE), the RAG Foundation and TÜV SÜD are shareholders. It links start-ups with companies, universities, research institutes and investors – in Germany and Europe from its base in North Rhine-Westphalia. The project, which is scheduled to run for five years, is intended to create an innovation cluster that will have an impact throughout Europe. In the form of events, innovative matchmaking formats and a special accelerator program, the energy of the scene will be combined with the existing strong research- and corporation-driven hydrogen economy. The headquarters are in Essen, with further locations planned in North Rhine-Westphalia and other German states.
Economics Minister Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart: "Start-ups are the yeast in the dough of the economy: The combination of young companies with established companies and industrial enterprises offers great opportunities for sustainable value creation and sustainable jobs."