Hannover Messe Digital Edition from April 12 to 16
A mood of optimism in Saxony-Anhalt: New energy concepts for mobility, industry and municipalities
In this central German state, companies are working across a range of different sectors on alternative powertrains for the energy transition, integrated neighborhood concepts and hydrogen applications.
The energy supply of the future must be decentralized, mobile and climate-friendly. This will be demonstrated by the Investment and Marketing Corporation Saxony-Anhalt (IMG), which is presenting innovative and reproducible solutions in the digital showroom at this year’s leading international industrial technology exhibition in Hanover from April 12 to 16. The IMG and its co-exhibitors GETEC AG and Energieregion Staßfurt will be representing the state of Saxony-Anhalt and showing how solutions for CO2-neutral neighborhoods can be created, how electric car batteries are developed and tested and how a cross-sector energy supply based on green hydrogen can be set up.
"Saxony-Anhalt shapes the future" emphazises Professor Dr. Armin Willingmann, Minister for Economy, Science and Digitalisation. "As an industrial location with tradition and potential, our state offers the right breeding ground and innovative approaches for pioneering energy concepts. Especially in the megatrend 'green hydrogen', we are excellently positioned in a nationwide comparison. While others are still talking about it, we are already shaping the future."
“In Saxony-Anhalt, there is an obvious mood of optimism about new energy and new mobility,” says Thomas Einsfelder, Managing Director of the IMG, and adds: “With the innovative ability of our research institutions and the expertise of a traditional location for the chemical industry, Saxony-Anhalt is in an ideal position to play a leading role in these developments.”
GETEC AG has the factories and energy systems of the future in its sights. The company was founded in 1993 in Magdeburg as one of the first energy service contracting specialists. It now has around 1500 employees who develop smart green energy solutions at 40 sites throughout Europe. For example, in Romania GETEC operates a CO₂-neutral biomass combined heat and power plant using lignin residues on behalf of Clariant, a producer of bioethanol from agricultural waste materials. Thomas Wagner, CEO of GETEC, explains: “This joint project represents waste-to-value in its purest form. We see it as our mission to help customers like Clariant to move toward zero impact production.” In 2019, GETEC won the international dena Energy Efficiency Award in the category “Concepts for improving energy efficiency” for this project.
“Our history has taught us to believe in our visions, however improbable they may sound,” says Thomas Wagner. GETEC’s visions are being turned into reality in the region, for example in the Chemical and Industry Park Zeitz, where it is supplying several companies with heat from combined heat and power plants and developing solutions for reusing the harmful nitrous oxide gas produced by the chemical company Radici. It is also involved in projects throughout Germany and the rest of Europe.
By contrast, the Energieregion Staßfurt is committed to a comprehensive energy transition. The town incorporated this commitment into its mission statement in 2017 and began working to combine affordable sustainability, protection for the climate and the environment and electric mobility. By 2023, it plans to develop a wind farm and an electrolyzer which will convert renewable electricity into hydrogen. Using the appropriate infrastructure, the hydrogen from the region will be made available in the region to heat homes via the natural gas network and to power buses, trucks and cars. The town is also working on solutions for industrial firms. Staßfurt aims to become energy-independent and to set an example to other municipalities with its model region for hydrogen. The town has also established a shareholding model with energy savings bonds to encourage local residents to become involved. As Sven Wagner, the mayor of Staßfurt, explains: “This is an important project that is helping to protect the climate and promote the energy and mobility transition.”
Many other regions of Saxony-Anhalt are also well-prepared for a future without combustion engines. Companies in the state already cover many areas of battery production, from chemicals and material production through to development and testing. World market leaders, hidden champions and agile start-ups, together with research institutions which have close links with industry, are all working together to make batteries that are lighter in weight, longer-lasting, more powerful and more cost-effective.
On April 15 from 10.30 onward, Dr. Ingo Benecke, Managing Director of HORIBA FuelCon, Max Fuhr, commercial manager of Chemical Park Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Dr. Marcel Neubert, co-founder of the Halle-based tech start-up NorcSi GmbH and Marc Pappert, authorized officer and head of the investor service at IMG, will be discussing the challenges and opportunities involved in this area in a livestream moderated by IMG Managing Director Thomas Einsfelder. He invites anyone who is interested to attend: “The specialists in Saxony-Anhalt are developing sustainable, affordable solutions that will increase the range and the service life of batteries.”
Contact:
Frauke Flenker-Manthey
Press Officer IMG Saxony-Anhalt
flenker-manthey.ignore@img-sachsen-anhalt.de
phone: +49 391 568 99 71
Sabine Kraus
Press Officer IMG Saxony-Anhalt
sabine.kraus.ignore@img-sachsen-anhalt.de
phone: +49 391 568 99 20
Background: IMG Saxony-Anhalt mbH
The Investment and Marketing Corporation Saxony-Anhalt is the economic development agency of the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. As a service provider on behalf of Saxony-Anhalt’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, Science and Digitalisation, IMG Saxony-Anhalt is marketing the state as a science and business location. It is also responsible for promoting Saxony-Anhalt as a tourism destination at home and abroad. The settlement of companies in the state of Saxony-Anhalt is actively supported and supported by the IMG Saxony-Anhalt. On behalf of the state, IMG helps the companies based here with their investments if necessary. Our service is confidential and free of charge. Find out more: www.invest-in-saxony-anhalt.com
