The final symposium of the five innovation laboratories for hydrogen technologies of the Energy Research Center of Lower Saxony (EFZN) took place in the atrium of Leibniz Universität Hannover on November 5, 2024. The innovation labs were funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture with a total of 10.5 million euros from 2021 to 2024. You can find further information on the EFZN innovation labs here.
In the innovation lab “H2-Wegweiser Niedersachsen”, the Institute for German and International Mining and Energy Law (IBER) at Clausthal University of Technology, together with other institutes at Clausthal University of Technology, Leibniz Universität Hannover, the Institute for Solar Energy Research and partners from the field, has investigated how a hydrogen-based energy system of the future can be designed in Lower Saxony. Technical, legal, ecological and economic aspects were examined. From an energy law perspective, it was asked, among other things, which hydrogen (renewable or low-carbon) has to be used for the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. Moreover, the requirements for the corporate structure were examined (so-called unbundling) and, in particular, the extent to which hydrogen storage must be separated from other activities in the hydrogen economy (vertical unbundling) and from activities in the natural gas sector (horizontal unbundling).
Key results of the “H2-Wegweiser Niedersachsen” innovation lab are summarized in a comprehensive thesis paper. This is available as an open access document here.
