Credentials

South Africa could play an important role in the coming years as a secure producer of green hydrogen, including as a supplier to Germany. However, there are currently challenges in storing and distributing the raw material. This is where the recently launched Fraunhofer joint project “HySecunda” comes in, in which nine Fraunhofer Institutes and the Fraunhofer Academy are collaborating. The project aims to find optimized solutions for the production, storage, and certification of green hydrogen. The consortium also supports capacity building in the region and in current projects on hydrogen-based fuels for aviation.

The main objective of the project in Module 2 of the funding guideline (FRL) for “International Hydrogen Projects” is to establish the technical, scientific, legal, and commercial foundations for scaling up the “HyDSerbia” pilot project at various locations in the Republic of Serbia by implementing a large-scale, practice-oriented feasibility study and further developing a technical and economic simulation tool for energy systems.

Green hydrogen is seen as a key to the energy transition and sustainable storage of renewable energy. So far, hydrogen production by electrolysis is still expensive, mainly due to costly precious metal catalysts and complex manufacturing processes. The HOLMES-AEM project aims to make green hydrogen production more affordable and sustainable. To achieve this, the project focuses on developing innovative catalysts that do not require expensive precious metals.

Bubble-free electrolysis promises to reduce energy consumption by up to 15% compared to proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis. The aim of HollowEL's follow-up project is to demonstrate this improved energy efficiency using a demonstrator that is yet to be developed.

Electrolysis is a key component of the future hydrogen economy. Low production costs for hydrogen are a prerequisite for market penetration and rapid transformation. The manufacturing costs for electrolysers and their operating costs are key cost drivers. Bubble-free electrolysis promises to reduce energy consumption by up to 15% compared to proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis.

Offshore wind turbines generate significantly more electricity than their land-based counterparts, and do so more regularly. The H2Mare hydrogen flagship project aims to harness this potential by using renewable electricity directly at sea to produce hydrogen and hydrogen-based products. The future partners plan to integrate the water electrolyzer directly into a wind turbine, thereby providing innovative technologies for producing green hydrogen offshore.

The primary goal of the H2Giga - STacIE research project is to industrialize the production of electrolyzer stacks at the cell component and stack levels. This will be achieved through an industrializable, product-oriented concept, improvements in the technical and economic properties of the cell components, and the development of industrial production processes. Key research steps include the identification, evaluation, and further development of new materials and material combinations, as well as the necessary production processes.

In the H2Giga - FRHY research project, Fraunhofer IMWS and IWES are focusing on quality assurance in the series production of electrolyzers by characterizing components and stacks. The aim is to identify weak points and defects that occur in the industrial use of electrolyzers at an early stage. By analysing the causes of faults and tracing them back to production processes, the aim is to reduce testing costs, optimize the fault tolerance of production elements and achieve operational readiness of the elements more quickly.

Hydrogen technology is developing rapidly in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. These countries are investing heavily in research, industrial scaling, and international cooperation—and are setting global standards in the process. For Germany and Europe, this presents opportunities for new partnerships and market openings, but also risks, such as growing competition and technological dependencies. The AlKoWe project aims to comprehensively analyze hydrogen technology development in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

With the COLIPRI project, Fraunhofer CSP is developing innovative printing and color technologies that enable the individual and aesthetic retrofitting of photovoltaic modules. This will allow PV systems to be integrated flexibly and colorfully into buildings and urban spaces – without significant efficiency losses and with a focus on sustainability and recyclability.