Chemnitz Prevails in Nationwide Competition for Hydrogen Center
The Hydrogen and Mobility Innovation Center (HIC) is to be established on the South Technology Campus in the future with significant participation from Chemnitz University of Technology
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Prof. Dr. Thomas von Unwerth, Head of the Department of Advanced Powertrains at Chemnitz University of Technology, Chairman of the Board of HZwo e.V. and initiator of the Saxon application, says: "With the selection of our location for the national Hydrogen Technology Innovation and Technology Center, Chemnitz will become a central competence location in Germany. As part of the German Center Mobility of the Future, which aims to find and network the most creative minds and promote the most innovative projects on various forms of transport, we will further develop hydrogen technology from Saxony and shape the mobility of tomorrow together with other locations." Photo: Jacob Müller -
On the future site of the Hydrogen and Mobility Innovation Center in the immediate vicinity of Chemnitz University of Technology, huge fabric banners proclaim the message: Chemnitz is #Ready4Hydrogen. Photo: HZwo e.V. / Thomas Höppner (VideoVision)
HZwo e. V., which is closely associated with Chemnitz University of Technology, was able to prevail in the nationwide competition for the national innovation and technology center Hydrogen Technology for Mobility Applications. One location of this center will be built with significant participation from Chemnitz University of Technology at the South Technology Campus and thus in the immediate vicinity of Chemnitz University of Technology. Other locations besides Chemnitz are Duisburg (North Rhine-Westphalia), Pfeffenhausen (Bavaria) and a cluster in northern Germany. Chemnitz is thus the only location in eastern Germany and one of three central sites.
The decision on the locations of the Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Center under the umbrella of the German Center for Future Mobility was announced today at noon by Andreas Scheuer, Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, and Oliver Schenk, Minister of State for Federal Affairs and Media and head of the Saxon State Chancellery, in a joint video conference. Up to 60 million euros will go to Chemnitz by the end of 2024, according to the federal transport minister.
In the future, the Hydrogen and Mobility Innovation Center (HIC) on the Technology Campus South in Chemnitz will bundle the competence and expertise of the participating partners for the establishment of a value-added network for hydrogen technologies and fuel cell drives. Thus, a state-of-the-art vehicle laboratory, a hydrogen certification center, test benches for fuel cells as well as an advanced training center and an Experience Lab on an international level are now to be established in Chemnitz.
Prof. Dr. Gerd Strohmeier, President of Chemnitz University of Technology as well as Chairman of the Advisory Board of HZwo e.V., says: "I am extremely pleased about the nationwide location decision - for the Free State of Saxony, the science and economic region of Southwest Saxony, the city of Chemnitz and especially, of course, for our university, in particular the Chair of Advanced Powertrains and my colleague Thomas von Unwerth and his team, who are at the helm of HZwo e. V. and whom I would like to congratulate most warmly on this outstanding success. This underlines that Chemnitz University of Technology is an extremely research-intensive, transfer-oriented, and innovative university that addresses key ecological and economic issues of the future." With regard to the disputed development area at the Technology Campus South, he added: "At the same time, the decision should put an end to the unspeakable debate about the development area of about three hectares at the Technology Campus South, because with the HIC, a corresponding project can now be realized, even much faster than expected."
Prof. Dr. Thomas von Unwerth, Head of the Department of Advanced Powertrains at Chemnitz University of Technology, Chairman of the Board of HZwo e.V. and initiator of the application, looks to the future with optimism: "With the selection of our location for the national Hydrogen Technology Innovation and Technology Center, Chemnitz will become a central competence location in Germany. As part of the German Center Mobility of the Future, which aims to find and network the most creative minds and promote the most innovative projects on various forms of transport, we will further develop hydrogen technology from Saxony and shape the mobility of tomorrow together with other locations."
The Chemnitz location already has an excellent and established research infrastructure in this field due to the intensive cooperation between the Department of Advanced Powertrains at Chemnitz University of Technology and the Fraunhofer Institutes IWU and ENAS. Thus, in 2019 and 2020, investments by Vitesco Technologies and the Free State of Saxony alone in hydrogen technologies at Chemnitz University of Technology and Fraunhofer IWU amounted to around eleven million euros.
Contact: Prof. Dr. Thomas von Unwerth, Chair of Alternative Vehicle Drives at Chemnitz University of Technology, phone +49 (0) 371 531-23550, e-mail thomas.von-unwerth@mb.tu-chemnitz.de
(Author: Mario Steinebach / Translation: Chelsea Burris)
Mario Steinebach
06.09.2021
