- The HyLand concept supports municipalities on their path towards the hydrogen economy, either as HyStarters, HyExperts or HyPerformers, depending on the level of knowledge.
- 138 municipalities have expressed an interest in becoming HyStarters and in being supported in the development of a regional concept and a local participatory landscape.
- Up to 9 HyStarters will be selected. The selection process will commence in May 2019.
- Financing for the regional funding scheme is provided by the National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP).
Berlin,(NOW) — 138 regions in Germany aspire to become HyStarters. On 28 February 2019, the deadline for submitting expressions of interest for the new funding scheme, which specifically supports mobility with hydrogen in a regional context, expired. Steffen Bilger, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, presented this new funding approach, which is being coordinated by NOW GmbH, at the General Assembly of the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Innovation Programme (NIP 2) in December 2018.
In the first conceptual phase, which has just ended, municipalities and regions expressed their interest as HyStarters in developing municipal and regional concepts for the integration of hydrogen and fuel cell technology on the basis of renewable sources of energy – especially in the transport sector, but also for heating, power and storage (sector coupling). In the next step, up to nine regions will be selected, which will receive organisational and technical advice and support in developing the initial concept ideas. The regions should be characterised by one or more of the following specific properties or potentials: Coastal region (wind energy), lignite mining area (structural change), automotive industry (jobs), metropolitan region (mobility), medium-sized region (willingness to invest) and border region (European networking). From May 2019, the interested regions will be contacted in order to consolidate the existing interest and proceed with the selection process.
Hydrogen regions in Germany
The HyStarters are part of the HyLand concept, which offers all regions in Germany the opportunity to make advances on a local stage in the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technology – regardless of any previous experience. In addition to the HyStarter group, HyLand also focuses on regions that have already gained initial experience with the integration of hydrogen technology or that even already want to implement entire concepts. For these so-called HyExperts or HyPerformers, a corresponding competitive phase will begin in spring 2019.
More information regarding the funding scheme and the related procedure
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