Ministry of Lower Saxony Supports Hydrogen Campus Salzgitter With 2.5 Million Euros

The Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST is receiving around 2.5 million euros from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture for research work at the Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter. On February 3, 2025, Lower Saxony's Minister of Science and Culture Falko Mohrs personally handed over the funding decision on site in Salzgitter.

“The Hydrogen Campus Salzgitter is a central building block for the future of climate-neutral industry in Lower Saxony. In close cooperation between science, industry and regional players, we are creating the basis for the future-oriented further development of hydrogen technologies along the entire value chain and for advancing their application in practice. This targeted investment not only strengthens the innovative power of the region, but also makes a decisive contribution to the energy transition and sustainable value creation, which can develop exemplary impulses far beyond the region,” explains Science Minister Mohrs.

The funds from the “zukunft.niedersachsen” program will flow into the implementation of the “Hydrogen Campus Salzgitter Innovation Network”, which is being driven forward under the scientific leadership of the Fraunhofer IST in close cooperation with the TU Braunschweig. “The planned research work takes up the program goals of the “Mission Hydrogen 2030” from the 8th Energy Research Program of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection BMWK and is oriented towards the national and northern German hydrogen strategy,” explains Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christoph Herrmann, Institute Director of the Fraunhofer IST and Chairman of the Board of Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter e.V.

In terms of content, the entire value chain will be covered, including the establishment of hydrogen supply chains, the decarbonization of industry and neighborhoods, the flexible production of components for fuel cells and electrolysers as well as fuel cell mobility. The Hydrogen Campus Salzgitter acts as a real-world laboratory that enables close networking between researchers and users. Michael Gensicke, CFO of Wasserstoff Campus Salzgitter e.V. and Managing Director of Robert Bosch Elektronik GmbH, emphasizes: “Thanks to the trusting exchange with various players from research and development, politics and business, the Campus forms an important innovation platform for the participating companies that is unique in its form.”

“The Salzgitter Hydrogen Campus is an example of the progress we can achieve through regional cooperation. The challenges of the energy transition can only be tackled locally. Our goal is to turn the transformation into real added value for the region,” confirms Matthias Wunderling-Weilbier, State Secretary in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Regional Development, and in this context refers to the achievements of the Braunschweig Regional Development Office under the leadership of Dr. Ulrike Witt. Wunderling-Weilbier is Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Hydrogen Campus.