Erfurt (dpa/th) - Thuringia's Economics Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee sees potential for the Free State in hydrogen technologies. "I am convinced that the entry into the hydrogen economy will result in new economic opportunities for all of Thuringia," said the SPD politician on Monday at the opening of a new building for the Hyson Institute in Sonneberg. The state subsidized the new building, which cost 6.5 million euros, with around 3 million euros.
Tiefensee said Thuringia will systematically expand its competencies in hydrogen technology. The institute is a "central element". Southern Thuringia is to develop into a "hydrogen region". According to his ministry, a further three million euros in funding will go into the first research projects at the Hyson Institute.
The institute's 20 scientists had already moved into the new building at the end of October. The first test systems have already been put into operation, as the Hyson Institute announced.
Hydrogen is considered a climate-friendly energy carrier when it is produced using electricity from renewable energy sources. The so-called green hydrogen can serve as the basis for fuels, to replace the use of coal, oil and natural gas in industry and transport, for example. The Hyson Institute was officially launched in February 2021 and deals, among other things, with coating processes for natural gas pipelines to make them fit for hydrogen transport and with the use of by-products that arise during hydrogen production.
