New research building Active Sites in Essen: groundbreaking!

New research building Active Sites in Essen: groundbreaking!

Essen, Deutschland - On April 7, 2023, the first groundbreaking for the research building Active Sites took place in Essen. This ambitious project was initiated by the University Duisburg-Essen and is intended to serve as a state-of-the-art research and innovation campus. Ina Brandes, Minister of Culture and Science in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as Thomas Kufen, Mayor of Essen, were present at this solemn ceremony.

The building will offer space for around 125 researchers with a total usable area of ​​around 4,800 m². The construction and equipment costs of the project amount to around 70 million euros, half of which are financed by the federal and state governments. The start of the research company is planned for the summer of 2028.

research and development in focus

In Active Sites, scientists will work together from the inside of natural, life and engineering. The focus is on the development of modern analysis methods for the examination of chemical and biological reactions under nature -like conditions. A central project will be "Natural Water to Hydrogen", which wants to make the production of green hydrogen more sustainable. The University of Duisburg-Essen is known for its extensive algae collection, which is one of the largest worldwide with around 7,500 tribes.

Active Sites is the first construction project that realizes the UDE independently. The term “active centers” in this context refers not only to the reaction variety, but also to the decisive processes that are examined in their natural environment.

hydrogen LAB as key technology

hydrogen as an environmentally friendly fuel and chemical energy storage is becoming increasingly important. According to a message from the Fraunhofer imws , hydrogen offers numerous applications and can be generated climate -neutral, for example by electrolysis using renewable energies. Nevertheless, the use in industry and society is still limited, which is mainly due to a lack of economic and efficient technologies.

The building in the structure of Fraunhofer Hydrogen Lab in Görlitz will serve as an international research platform that is intended to develop and test technical approaches along the hydrogen value chain. The construction work begins at the end of 2023, and the research platform is to be put into operation with an electrolyse output of around 10 megawatts at the end of 2022. The project is funded by Saxony with around 30 million euros and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy with around 11.6 million euros.

In the hydrogen LAB, up to 30 scientists will research technologies such as electrolysers and fuel cells from 2023. The focus is on improving the reliability and lifespan of these technologies as well as on the development of new manufacturing techniques. Cooperation with Siemens Energy is intended to ensure that the industrial needs are adequately taken into account.

The creation of such research infrastructures such as the Active Sites in Essen and the Hydrogen Lab in Görlitz underlines the growing importance of hydrogen technologies as a central building block for future energy supply and sustainable mobility.