The Ruhr – Leading Energy Region at the heart of Europe
New Internet portal profiles technology location
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(3 September 2007). The energy sector worldwide is about to experience a wave of innovation, driven mainly by the demands of climate change and the need to ensure ongoing supply. The Ruhr metropolis is renowned for its technological competence in coal supply, construction of power plants, and energy generation and distribution, thanks in particular to companies that have relevant expertise and are successful on the world scene. From today, a bilingual Internet portal will highlight the new strengths of the Ruhr energy region, which have arisen from both the further development of traditional competencies and the establishment of new ones. These include companies and research institutes active in the growth sectors of renewable energies and energy efficiency technologies, as well as in fuel cell and hydrogen technology. The website, www.ruhrenergy.de, which is available in both German and English, offers systematic access to information on the Ruhr region, a location unique in the world in terms of its diversity and density with regard to energy technology.
The “Company Guide” is intended for businesses and specialists who are looking for German-made energy technology, joint ventures or cooperative projects, or an investment location in Europe. It integrates the website of the “RuhrEnergy International Visitor Centre” at Gelsenkirchen Science Park, which has a long and successful history as a contact point for energy technology for visitors from all over the world. The state of North-Rhine Westphalia and the European Union both provided financial support for the creation of the portal.
As the portal spectacularly documents, the Ruhr metropolitan region, with its combination of traditional and new energy expertise, is exceptionally well placed in the race to innovate, which is being accelerated by the debate on climate change. It has become the world’s leading location for suppliers to wind power plants, thanks largely to diversification by companies involved in the mining and steel industries. Bio energy is another field where numerous companies have their origins in the mining sector. A wide range of activities pertaining to biomass gasification and the processing and utilisation of energy from biomass are taking place throughout the region – with a firm foundation in the research institutes and direct application in the gas sector. In addition, a cluster with great development momentum has been formed for fuel cells and hydrogen technology. The spectrum ranges from university-related research to the development of components and system integration to trials in demonstration projects and field tests. There are promising signs of other clusters developing in the geothermal, solar energy, energy saving technologies and energy services fields, with a special focus on IT systems and services.
Traditional and new competencies by no means cancel each other out; rather, combining them creates new synergies. To name just two examples, developers of new energy conversion technologies can benefit from the extensive experience of established experts in grid integration and control while, in exchange, traditional energy businesses now have interesting options for further diversifying their generation portfolios.
As they develop and test new energy technology solutions, companies can make use of cooperation partners from the region’s tertiary and research institutes in almost all these fields. Over recent years, the tertiary institutes have continually improved the way they partner with business by forming cooperative networks to concentrate their expertise in applied energy research.
More Information:
Wolfgang Jung, Senior Project Manager, Renewable Energies, jung@wipage.de