On Monday, July 10, 2023, the final event for the hydrogen feasibility study Inntal-Rosenheim-Traunstein took place at the Rosenheim District Office. Among the more than 80 participants were Bavarian Deputy Minister President and State Minister for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy Hubert Aiwanger and Bavarian State Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forestry Michaela Kaniber. Numerous other representatives from politics, authorities, municipalities, science, business and associations complemented the high-ranking audience.
At the beginning of the event, Rosenheim District Administrator Otto Lederer, also representing the city of Rosenheim, the district of Traunstein as well as the Tyrolean Inn Valley, emphasized the great future importance of hydrogen as an energy carrier, which „can balance supply and demand as an energy storage medium, be available to industry as a basic material and promote mobility in fuel cells“.
In his subsequent opening statement, Minister of State Hubert Aiwanger also emphasized the special role of CO2-free green hydrogen for the energy and mobility transition and for achieving Bavaria’s climate targets. Minister of State Michaela Kaniber was very pleased that the hydrogen feasibility study was developed with 60,000 euros of LEADER funding from the Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture.
After the client of the study, Georg Dettendorfer from the company Spetition Dettendorfer from Nußdorf am Inn, had outlined his motives for initiating the H2 study, Tim-Luca Knaack, project engineer from the contractor Wenger Engineering, presented the results of the study. According to the study, there is great sales potential in the areas of mobility and heat, for electricity with the best conditions for photovoltaics in Germany, and a great will for change. Among the hurdles cited were borderline economic viability in the use of hydrogen, too slow expansion of renewable energies, high grid utilization and long approval times. Risks are reflected first and foremost in extreme dependence on electricity prices and a lack of planning certainty due to uncertainties in legislation. The lively participation in the study was remarkable, in which expert interviews were conducted with 45 promising players or companies on the subject of hydrogen.
In a concluding panel discussion, certain demands on politicians derived from the hurdles were discussed with the participation of Minister of State Hubert Aiwanger, Managing Director Dr. Götz Brühl of Stadtwerke Rosenheim, President Prof. Heinrich Köster of Rosenheim Technical University and Managing Director Thomas Eberl of Spedition Eberl. Reference was also made to the skilled workers needed in the hydrogen sector and to a need to increase the impact of funding instruments. Numerous questions and H2 practical examples in the transport sector from the auditorium rounded off the insightful panel discussion.
Even though a short-term hydrogen ramp-up by the pioneers would be possible as a start in the Inntal-Rosenheim-Traunstein region studied, but is not currently feasible due to the economic situation and the existing hurdles and risks, Georg Dettendorfer remains optimistic: „We will stay on the ball on the subject of hydrogen by observing the development of the market and legislation and continue to exchange information accordingly within the steering committee of the study, so that we can then launch H2 projects in the future if necessary“.
The hydrogen study is now available for download at: https://dettendorfer.at/downloads
In addition to Johann Dettendorfer Spedition, the project partners of the H2 study are ezro Energiezukunft/Landkreis Rosenheim, Chiemgau GmbH Wirtschaftsförderung/Landkreis Traunstein, Stadtwerke Rosenheim, INNergie Rosenheim, Eberl Internationale Spedition Nußdorf bei Traunstein, TIWAG-Tiroler Wasserkraft AG Innsbruck and the LEADER action groups (LAG) Mangfalltal-Inntal and Chiemgauer Seenplatte. The project is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (ELER).
From left to right: Daniel Jakob (TIWAG-Tiroler Wasserkraft), Anton Wallner (LAG Mangfalltal-Inntal), Marvin Krüger (Wenger Engineering), Daniel Mair (LAG Chiemgauer Seenplatte), Georg Dettendorfer (Johann Dettendorfer Spedition), Heiko Peckmann (INNergie), Hubert Aiwanger (Minister of State for Economic Affairs, State Development and Energy), Andreas März (Lord Mayor of Rosenheim), Michaela Kaniber (State Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forestry), Thomas Eberl (Eberl Internationale Spedition), Otto Lederer (District Administrator of Rosenheim), Dr. Götz Brühl (Rosenheim Municipal Utilities), Peter Heßner (Rosenheim County Economic Development Department), Christoph Kellner (Traunstein County Economic Development Department).