“Funding is crucial”
The ramp-up of the hydrogen economy in Hamburg can begin. The Hamburg Green Energy Hub project is receiving significant funding from the German federal ...
By Niko Karcher-Jüngling
Hamburg is rightly known as the “Gateway to the World”, as demonstrated in the latest study by DNV, the world’s leading ship classification society – in the “Leading Maritime Cities (LMC) Report”, Hamburg ranks eighth. In terms of attractiveness and competitiveness, respondents ranked the city on the Elbe, with its numerous maritime companies and institutions, among the top five maritime cities. This is good news for Hamburg, because the port also benefits from shipping companies’ investment in environmentally friendly tonnage that can be powered by alternative fuels.
Investments made for a reason: the maritime industry has set an ambitious target to decarbonise shipping by 2050. However, this will bring about a fundamental change in the entire industry that can only be achieved through collective effort and innovative technology. This is why international collaboration, the exchange of knowledge and networking between experts are more important than ever. For many years now, the city on the Elbe has been offering the right location for this with its trade fair grounds and the Congress Center Hamburg. And with the world’s leading trade fairs SMM and WindEnergy Hamburg as well as Hydrogen Technology Expo Europe, it also offers the ideal platform in terms of content. All three events focus on solutions for a climate-neutral future.
For more than 60 years, SMM – the world’s leading trade fair for the maritime industry – has brought together the industry’s key players in Hamburg to showcase cutting-edge technologies and solutions, increasingly also in the fields of digitalisation and decarbonisation. It is a global forum where sustainable innovations and technological advances are presented and discussed in high-level conferences and numerous open stage panels. Alternative fuels such as methanol or ammonia are key elements driving the transformation of shipping. Their carbon-neutral production on the basis of green hydrogen is an example of how closely the maritime industry, renewable energy and hydrogen are intertwined.
Hamburg therefore provides a central platform for these topics as well. After all, wind power plays a crucial role in the success of the transformation processes by supplying the necessary green energy. That is why both WindEnergy Hamburg and Hydrogen Technology Expo Europe are held here. The Hamburg exhibition halls will host both the leading international forum for the onshore and offshore wind industry and Europe’s largest event focusing on the hydrogen economy and its potential.
Together, they form Hamburg’s Big Three of the Energy Transition and fit seamlessly into the ongoing exchange of ideas between science, business and politics in Hamburg and beyond. This is because more than half of the companies both attending and exhibiting at the three events are from abroad. The Hanseatic city is once again presenting itself – also internationally – as a key location for the energy transition, thereby making a global contribution to this important issue. After all, the city on the Elbe is already considered an international leader in the field of renewable energy. Hamburg is also committed to hydrogen technology and sustainable mobility. This is particularly true in the fields of shipping and aviation. The Hamburg Big Three of the Energy Transition will bring together around 100,000 trade visitors from all over the world, 4,500 international exhibiting companies and 750 high-calibre speakers in specialist lectures, panels and podium discussions in Hamburg’s exhibition halls to make their contribution to the energy transition from 3 September to 24 October 2024.