Dubbed hyBit, the project is set to be headed up by the University of Bremen which plans to establish a roadmap for the design of a green hydrogen-based sustainable industry in Bremen’s industrial port.

The University of Bremen has said the starting point of the project in the industrial port will focus on Arcelor Mittal’s steelworks, which Dr. Torben Stührmann, Head of Resilient Energy Systems in the Faculty of Production Engineering at the University of Bremen, explained was the one of the biggest air polluters in the region.

Stührmann, said, “It [Arcelor Mittal’s steelworks] is currently still one of the biggest air polluters in the region. It emits around six million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide every year – almost as much as the rest of the city combined.”

H2 View understands the research and findings from the Bremen project are intended to be shared with other locations in Germany and Europe that are undergoing similar structural change.

“hyBit will map and accelerate the transformation process toward a hydrogen economy in a monitoring framework by planning necessary measures prudently and avoiding undesirable developments or delays as far as possible,” said Stührmann, “If we succeed in doing this as a model here in Bremen’s industrial port, we are very confident that we will be able to transfer these findings to other locations in Germany and Europe that are undergoing a similar structural change.

“Through hyBit, our future sustainable hydrogen economy should be more resilient to external influencing factors and give our economy and society more security.”

Bettina Stark-Watzinger, German Federal Research Minister, commented, “I want to make Germany a hydrogen republic. After all, we will have to supply our industry with energy in a climate-neutral and reliable manner in the future. In doing so, we want to become independent of individual countries and, above all, work with partners who share our values.

“As a country of innovation, we now have the opportunity to make hydrogen technologies the next leading German export. The Bremen region and the hyBit project in particular can make an important contribution here, as research and industry work hand in hand. The hydrogen economy is being tested on a small scale for the entire country. That’s why we are supporting this special project with a total of €30m.”