Saxony Strengthens Hydrogen Strategy with New Research Project

On January 27, 2025, Minister of Economic Affairs Dirk Panter handed over funding decisions for a joint R&D project from the ERDF/JTF technology funding 2021-2027 to AMBARtec AG and TU Bergakademie Freiberg. AMBARtec AG will receive 3.19 million euros in funding from the Free State of Saxony and the European Union, while TU Freiberg will receive 659,000 euros.

The use of hydrogen is currently seen as a key solution for the energy transition. With its help, transportation and industry should systematically become more environmentally friendly. However, in addition to the questions of production and use, the question of storage and transportation of hydrogen - preferably ecologically produced, green hydrogen - must also be answered. Storage and transportation are elementary components of a hydrogen infrastructure, as the energy carrier must be transported safely and efficiently to the user.

The Dresden-based start-up AMBARtec AG offers a possible solution: based on its innovative hydrogen compact storage technology (HyCS), it wants to ensure that hydrogen can be transported economically and over long distances in the future. The special thing about it is that the hydrogen and its energy are stored and transported with the help of iron oxide nuggets - similar to small stones. In the joint R&D project “HyCS storage power plant”, the next milestones are to be reached before this innovative storage technology is ready for series production. Together with the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, AMBARtec AG intends to set up the entire process in a pilot plant.

Minister for Economic Affairs Dirk Panter: “This new storage technology has great potential and can help to promote the use of renewable energies all over the world. With the technology funding programs, we as the Free State of Bavaria offer an important range of funding opportunities, especially in economically challenging times, to get ambitious and technology-driven innovation projects off the ground and to intensify cooperation between business and science. Research and development are the driving force behind growth and productivity. They ensure that Saxon companies remain internationally competitive in the long term through innovative product and process solutions and that new technologies are also used in the Freistaat.”

Uwe Pahl, CEO of AMBARtec AG: “With our iron nuggets, hydrogen and its energy can be stored safely and efficiently and transported in standard containers by truck, train or ship to any location. This is particularly interesting for the numerous companies that require green hydrogen for their supply of renewable energy but are not connected to the hydrogen core grid, or will not be in the near future. As part of the joint project, we will scale up our tried-and-tested technology for industrial use and build Europe's first hydrogen storage power plant.”

The Saxony Hydrogen Strategy

Hydrogen as an energy carrier has great potential to replace fossil fuels in almost all areas of application. In order to mitigate the negative effects of climate change, which are already being felt today and are predicted to worsen dramatically, it is necessary to move away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Hydrogen can play a key role in this. In addition, the war in Ukraine and the European energy crisis caused by Russia have made renewable energies and hydrogen even more important for the development of a well-diversified, resilient and sustainable energy market in the future. Against this backdrop, Saxony has presented its 2022 hydrogen strategy. Since then, Saxon companies and research institutions have been working successfully on the industrialization of the entire hydrogen value chain.