Bremen Town Hall: Austrian ambassador and hydrogen alliance in focus!

Bremen Town Hall: Austrian ambassador and hydrogen alliance in focus!

There was a lot going on in Bremen City Hall on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, as Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte received the Dutch Ambassador Hester Somsen. Accompanied by the Honorary Consul Cornelius Neumann-Redlin as well as the former Honorary Consul Hylke Boerstra and Consul Willemijn van der Toorn, a conversation about bilateral relations between Bremen and the Netherlands took place. It became clear how closely the two partners work together in the areas of hydrogen technology, sustainable aviation and space travel.

Ambassador Somsen took the opportunity to register herself in the Golden Book of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Mayor Bovenschulte presented Neumann-Redlin with a certificate of appointment and together they discussed the priorities of their cooperation. The Netherlands has established itself as Germany's most important trading partner in the EU and ranks third worldwide. A clear indicator that there is a strong network of economic interests and willingness to innovate here.

Hydrogen economy as a future project

A central topic of the conversation was the hydrogen economy. Bremen has already presented 12 projects that contribute to the necessary hydrogen infrastructure. These projects are part of a larger northern German and European strategy that aims to create a connected hydrogen network for transport and industry. It is important that hydrogen production often takes place in different locations than consumption, for example near wind farms compared to chemical plants. The average consumer may not notice this immediately, but the course for a hydrogen-based future is now being set, and Bremen is right in the middle of it.

Preparations for the large-scale use of hydrogen are necessary and therefore many of the projects are still in the experimental phase. The aim is to collect new insights for future planning and to demonstrate a good knack for the right approaches. In this context, Germany and the Netherlands have also launched a joint call for funding to accelerate the development of hydrogen technologies and projects. Both countries are investing five million euros each to launch further joint projects.

Innovations for a sustainable future

The focus is on innovative technologies because green hydrogen is considered the key to decarbonization, especially in industrial processes that are difficult to electrify. Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger emphasizes that such technologies are of utmost importance for the economy. The need to form a strong industrial cluster is also highlighted. Here we encounter a colorful range of projects: be it electrolysis for hydrogen production or innovative approaches to storing and using hydrogen. Given that Germany wants to become climate neutral by 2045, while the Netherlands has its sights set on 2050, joint efforts not only make sense, but are absolutely necessary.

Overall, the developments in Bremen and the partnership with the Netherlands show that both sides have a great interest in a sustainable and innovative future. While the opening of the Windforce Conference in Bremerhaven and the tour of the ZARM space location in Bremen were the reason for the meeting, the commitment to green technologies is clearly in the foreground.

For the coming years, it will be important to follow the newly launched projects closely. Whether Bremen and the Netherlands will achieve their ambitious goals remains to be seen - but one thing is certain: the course has been laid for a sustainable and principled hydrogen future.

You can read more details about the developments in Bremen and the joint projects here: Bremen Senate Press Office, Bremen Innovative and International cooperation.