Fraunhofer Study: Will The Hydrogen Economy Bring About The Long-Awaited Upswing In The East?

Even around thirty years after reunification, there are still clear differences in in terms of economic performance. The five new federal states here only have 75 percent of the western level. This in turn translates into lower salaries and fewer wealth. For experts, however, this is not surprising. Because the West  economy has generally continued to grow since the fall of the Berlin Wall. In order to really catch up, the former eastern territories would have had to grow at an above-average rate. After all: the distance has not increased either. Experts from the Fraunhofer Institute now see a great opportunity for the comparatively new countries. Because the fight against climate change is causing huge upheavals in many industries. Fossil fuels must be replaced by alternatives. Most companies rely on the use of hydrogen in this context.

The green electricity surplus could be an advantage

This is why there is often talk of switching to a hydrogeneconomy. This would also have to go hand in hand with the establishment of a completely new industry to produce and transport the coveted raw material. This is exactly where the researchers in Eastsee ideal conditions - in several respects. On the one hand, a lot of green electricity is produced in the comparatively sparsely populated areas, but only little is used. So far this has therefore often been transported to the south of the republic via power lines. In the future, however, the excess electricity could be used to produce hydrogen. At the same time, important expertise already exists in the individual federal states in order to bring the new technology to use. In Saxony-Anhalt, for example, there is a traditional chemical industry. Thuringia, on the other hand, can refer to expertise in measurement and control technology, while Saxony has strong companies in plant and mechanical engineering.

Hydrogen should help achieve climate neutrality

Hydrogen production is currently mostly decentralized in the immediate vicinity of the pilot projects. In the long term, however, scaling seems to be inevitable. Production would then be more centralized with the help of large electrolysers. Then the hydrogen would have to be transported to the customers. In such a scenario, the new federal states would be well positioned to generate a not inconsiderable part of the added value within the hydrogen economy. You would also make a valuable contribution to achieving the goal of the federal government to become climate neutral by 2045. In addition, the changeover will not succeed entirely without government funding. As part of a European initiative, the German government recently made around eight billion euros available. Among other things, 15 projects in East are being funded.