Successful launch: Hydrogen summit HYDROGEN DIALOGUE illustrates unique prospects for the global energy transition to a new energy mix

HYDROGEN DIALOGUE & NUEdialog from NürnbergMesse impressively reflected the international state of the art for hydrogen technology: more than 45 top-level speakers, including Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs and the event patron, Hubert Aiwanger; economic sage Professor Veronika Grimm; Schaeffler CEO Klaus Rosenfeld; Armin Schnettler, CEO New Energy Business at Siemens Energy; and Nuremberg’s mayor Marcus König, gathered on 18 November for the first digital hydrogen summit. More than 700 national and international participants representing industry, science and policy-making had the opportunity to interact on the HYDROGEN DIALOGUE platform, with about 30 lectures illustrating unique prospects for the global energy transition to a new energy mix. In addition to bringing the hydrogen community together, NürnbergMesse also intends to play an active part in this field itself in the future: at the Congress it announced its plan to be the world’s first exhibition company to invest in a hydrogen power plant of its own, aiming to have a carbon-neutral energy supply system in place at the exhibition venue in Nuremberg by 2028. NürnbergMesse CEO Dr Roland Fleck and his colleague Peter Ottmann sum up: “We are very pleased with the successful digital launch of HYDROGEN DIALOGUE. With the combination of the Congress and the power plant, we have moved hydrogen into overdrive, and put the weight of the city of Nuremberg and its exhibition venue behind hydrogen technology.”

Participants at the hydrogen summit, which was fully digital on account of the coronavirus pandemic, were also full of praise: “This event displayed a remarkable level of professionalism,” comments Schaeffler CEO Rosenfeld. The industry summit is a way of bringing “all the key players together on an equal footing.” Rosenfeld continues: “The world seems to be united in an unprecedented hydrogen euphoria, and we need to work together to harness this dynamism, this absolutely historic societal consensus in favour of sustainability, so we can finally make the breakthrough to obtain and store energy from hydrogen.”

Economic sage Professor Veronika Grimm, board member of the Center Hydrogen.Bavaria (H2B), was also clearly enthusiastic about the event, which highlighted both the optimistic mood and the importance of the industry: “For its digital launch, Hydrogen Dialogue brought together an incredible number of hydrogen players representing industry, science, and policy-making. The next step is to put all the policy initiatives into practice!”

Manager Exhibitions Jasmin Rutka is also happy with the success of the launch: “Our digital HYDROGEN DIALOGUE was extremely well received by our exhibitors and participants. That’s why we want to continue gathering and networking the hydrogen community on our platform on a lasting basis. We are grateful to the School of Economic and Social Sciences of Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg as the joint organizer, and also H2.B, our Advisory Board members and all our customers and partners, without whom this event would not have been as successful. We’re already looking forward to our next gathering!”