Chemnitz, September 22, 2025 - The Hydrogen Innovation Center (HIC) in Chemnitz begins its work with the official kick-off. The center, which is funded with 84.4 million euros, is creating a clear transformation path for the industry. Particular attention is being paid to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups, which are receiving targeted support at the HIC to develop new business areas in the field of hydrogen technologies. The HIC thus makes a key contribution to the competitiveness of Germany as an industrial location and to the economic transformation in Saxony.
Germany is facing the biggest industrial transformation in its recent history. Suppliers, machine and plant manufacturers in particular, with their numerous medium-sized companies, must master the transition to a post-fossil economy. Hydrogen plays a key role in this - not only in the
transport, but also in energy supply and industrial processes. With over 700 automotive suppliers, mechanical and plant engineering companies, Saxony is one of the most important cluster regions in Germany. The HIC in Chemnitz acts as a catalyst for this transformation and supports companies in opening up new fields of value creation. The HIC's focus on small and medium-sized enterprises addresses a central challenge of the German economic structure: SMEs form the backbone of the German economy, but often do not have the resources for independent hydrogen research and development.
-development. The HIC closes this gap with hydrogen laboratories and test stands that can be rented for the first time, as well as development services that are also accessible to small and medium-sized companies without their own research infrastructure. This innovative approach is intended to facilitate entry into the hydrogen economy. The facility also offers start-ups in the field of hydrogen technologies attractive conditions for setting up in the region, thus promoting the creation of new jobs in the region.
The HIC in Chemnitz is one of four strategic locations in the national Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Center (ITZ), which together will receive up to 290 million euros in federal funding. In Chemnitz, a development and test environment for hydrogen technologies that is unique in Europe is being created on the 37,000 square meter technology campus.
With the HIC Research and Transfer Center, a central component of HIC has been actively working as a technological service provider since March 2025 and combines services that can be used directly by companies. Its core task is to develop and build digital twins of stacks and systems as well as a virtual test environment that customers can use as independent development platforms.
The range of services includes the development, simulation and specification of stacks, systems and components as well as process analyses, feasibility studies, market studies and patent searches for hydrogen technologies. This already provides companies with a practical platform for entering the hydrogen economy - a clear added value, especially for SMEs that need to access R&D resources quickly.
Michael Kretschmer, Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony
“Saxony is a leading location for hydrogen technologies and with the Hydrogen Innovation Center in Chemnitz, we are further expanding this pioneering role. We stand by our tradition as an automotive and mechanical engineering state: by enabling these key industries to link up with hydrogen, we are making them future-proof. This is precisely why the Free State is contributing around 14.5 million euros to the development of the Hydrogen Innovation Center, because it stands for value creation, new markets and successful transformation in the Free State.”
Federal Minister of Transport Patrick Schnieder
„Hydrogen and renewable fuels - alongside electromobility - will be a key pillar of sustainable mobility. With the launch of the Hydrogen Innovation Center in Chemnitz, we are creating one of four innovation and technology centers that we are specifically promoting. In this way, we are accelerating the transformation of the supply
industry towards climate-friendly drives. This opens up excellent opportunities for research, development and innovation, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. The Federal Ministry of Transport is supporting this with around 70 million euros.“
Thomas Kralinski, State Secretary at the Saxon State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labor, energy and climate protection
„From now on, the HIC is the H in Chemnitz! With the Hydrogen Innovation Center, a world-class technology center is being created in the industrial heart of Saxony. It offers companies - especially SMEs - ideal conditions for developing and commercializing new products. We are thus creating the basis
to ensure that our economy can continue to inspire customers worldwide with innovative and sustainable technologies in the future.“
Sven Schulze, Lord Mayor of the City of Chemnitz:
„With the Hydrogen Innovation Center, a future location with around 70,000 square meters of space for companies and research in the field of hydrogen is being created on the Chemnitz Hydrogen Campus. Here, we are combining teaching, research, development and industrial implementation through to value creation - and thus creating a
A unique selling point for Chemnitz. The planned electrolyzer with a local hydrogen network in particular shows how closely innovation and practical application will go hand in hand here. Many thanks to everyone involved for making this project possible.“
Karl Lötsch, Managing Director of HIC gGmbH - Hydrogen Innovation Center:
„With the HIC, we are opening the door to new hydrogen markets for SMEs from today. As the first center in Germany that is consistently geared towards the needs of SMEs, we offer an industrial development and test environment in Chemnitz that is unique in Europe. Here, companies can develop components
develop, integrate, test and qualify to market maturity - supported by a network of 160 partners from industry and research. We make high-tech tangible - with industry-related services from component development to system integration and qualification. I particularly invite SMEs and start-ups,
to start projects with us now - from the first feasibility check to series production.“
Prof. Thomas von Unwerth, Chairman of the Board HZwo e. V., Chemnitz University of Technology:
„With the HIC, we are making an important contribution to advancing the hydrogen value chain in Germany and thus taking on a leading role in climate technologies in the future. However, the hydrogen economy can only grow with the right specialists. That is why we are creating a unique combination of training, research and industry in Chemnitz - from master classes to master's degree courses. Our training laboratories and the close involvement of Chemnitz University of Technology ensure that theory and practice go hand in hand. This is how we secure the talent that will shape not only German SMEs, but also Europe's hydrogen markets of tomorrow. And we show: From Germany, we can be at the forefront of international competition.“
Dagmar Fehler, CEO and spokesperson for NOW GmbH:
„The Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Centers are a key instrument for transforming research into marketable products and integrating supplier industries along the value chain. The Hydrogen Innovation Center that has now opened in Chemnitz is a prime example of precisely this: it gives small and medium-sized companies in particular access to state-of-the-art laboratories, test stands and development platforms for the first time and impressively demonstrates how strong networks can create synergies that strengthen Germany as a technology location in international competition. As NOW GmbH, which implemented the funding guideline in
We expressly welcome this development, as it creates future technologies ‚Made in Germany‘ that complement battery solutions where necessary and thus pave the way for a sustainable transportation system.”
Prof. Welf-Guntram Drossel, 1st Deputy Chairman of HZwo e.V., Managing Director of the InstituteHead of the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU:
„Economic fields of application for hydrogen can only become established if the costs of hydrogen systems can be substantially reduced. To this end, the Fraunhofer IWU's Reference Factory.H2 is working with industrial partners to develop new solutions for industrial mass production and is gradually implementing them. The HIC will significantly intensify this process. This will not only integrate urgently needed skills and infrastructures into process chains more quickly, but also create new sustainable business areas for companies. Together with the HIC, we want to develop Chemnitz as an innovative pacemaker and prominent anchor point for hydrogen technology.“
The Hydrogen Innovation Center plays a central role in Saxony's industrial structural change. With its strong automotive and supplier industry, the Free State is exemplary for the challenge of transferring traditional industries into the future of the hydrogen economy. As a lighthouse project
The HIC shows how this change can be successfully shaped - with a national and European impact. The center is supported by the technology cluster HZwo e.V., which has been driving the development of a Saxon hydrogen economy since 2017. With more than 160 partners from industry and research, HZwo combines the strengths of science, business and politics. The close cooperation with institutions such as Chemnitz University of Technology and several Fraunhofer Institutes creates the basis for a strong innovation ecosystem. One particular milestone is the new Master's degree course in „Hydrogen Technologies“ at Chemnitz University of Technology, which will start in the winter semester 2025/26 and specifically train specialists for the growing hydrogen economy.
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Image sources: HZwo e.V. | HIC gGmbH
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HIC gGmbH – Hydrogen Innovation Center
a subsidiary of HZwo e.V.
Technology Campus 6
09126 Chemnitz
www.hzwo.eu/hic
The „Hydrogen Innovation Center“ project as a hydrogen innovation and technology center at the Chemnitz site is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) and the Free State of Saxony with a total of 84,398,790.54 euros as part of the „Guideline for the Promotion of Projects in the Course of Establishing a Decentralized Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Center“. Funding for this measure is also being provided as part of the German Recovery and Resilience Plan (DARP) via the European Recovery and Resilience Facilities (ARF) in the NextGenerationEU program. The project is co-financed by the federal state of Saxony with around 14.5 million euros. The funding guideline is coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by Project Management Jülich (PtJ).
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