The hydrogen economy is international and new innovative companies are emerging worldwide. The technology has also triggered a boom in the southern Harz region. The exhibitor Maximator Hydrogen, a manufacturer of hydrogen filling stations, has been growing for years and is aiming for a turnover of 50 million euros in its fifth financial year. Construction is underway and production areas are constantly being expanded. The order backlog is now over 100 million euros.

Numerous European SMEs are benefiting from the hydrogen economy and are constantly developing new solutions for the production, infrastructure, transportation, storage and refuelling of hydrogen. Around 300 exhibitors will be showcasing their solutions at Hydrogen + Fuel Cells EUROPE at the Hannover Messe alone, including well-known companies such as Bosch, Iberdrola, Schaeffler, Siemens, Linde and Emerson. The hydrogen industry thinks internationally and presents itself primarily in Hall 13, where decision-makers from all over the world will be discussing new technologies and applications for hydrogen and fuel cells across all sectors in an area of around 8,000 m2. In addition to Germany, most of the exhibitors come from Europe as well as China, Japan, South Korea, the USA and Canada.

Norway is also strongly represented, as the country is an important partner for the German and European ambitions. Equinor and the German RWE recently signed an agreement on the conversion of gas-fired power plants to hydrogen, the production of hydrogen in Norway, export via pipeline to Germany and the joint development of offshore wind farms. Statkraft and the German HH2E presented their agreements with the Norwegian company Nel for the purchase of electrolyzers for hydrogen factories in several European countries. Nel is one of 14 Norwegian companies at the trade fair. Among other things, the engineers will be showing the latest generation of their electrolysers. Europe already produces and consumes around 80 million tons of hydrogen every year. The trend is rising. The main challenge is to make the hydrogen already in use and the additional consumption green in the future. The EU Commission wants to replace gray hydrogen with green hydrogen by 2030. Why? Grey hydrogen is based on fossil energy sources. The ambitions are high. It will take many more electrolysers to reach the target, and there are only seven years to go.

According to Fraunhofer, the most efficient technology for producing hydrogen comes from Belgium: ZIRFON alkaline electrolysis separators (AEL) are used worldwide by manufacturers of electrolyzers and owners of hydrogen production projects due to their durability and consistently high productivity, explain the developers.

But it is not only Europe that is focusing on hydrogen. Many companies are also investing in China. Refire, for example, says it already operates over 4,000 fuel cell trucks. On the first day of the trade fair, Audrey Ma, Vice President at Refire, will be discussing "Heavy Duty Trucks - is Hydrogen the future?" with representatives of the European industry, including Jens Fleckenstein from Daimler Truck and Yves Dumoulin from FORVIA Group.

Hydrogen + Fuel Cells EUROPE is organizing two forums parallel to the exhibition: the Public Forum and the Technical Forum.