In its fifteenth meeting last Friday, 28 February 2020, the Weser-Ems Energy Strategy Council set the course for the future of the region. The interdisciplinary expert committee has been in existence since 2015 and presented a blueprint for the development of the Weser-Ems region in the field of energy with the Energy 2020 Master Plan. The Master Plan is now being updated and supplemented with groundbreaking new topics and fields of action for the energy industry, regional planning, research and education in order to meet the changing challenges of the energy revolution with innovative solutions from the region.

"The energy industry is one of the strongest sectors here in the Northwest. We also have great locational advantages for renewable energies and are already one of the windiest regions in the Republic. We have to use this potential and also develop and establish new areas such as hydrogen applications in Weser-Ems. The first promising project approaches, e.g. from EWE or the Emsland and Wesermarsch districts, are already being developed in Weser-Ems and are supported by the Strategy Council," said Jürgen Krogmann, Lord Mayor of Oldenburg and Chairman of the Energy Strategy Council.

In addition, the focus will continue to be on knowledge networking, knowledge transfer and energy education. To this end, the Strategic Council is for the first time awarding prizes for pioneering theses for the energy industry and society of the future. Students can submit their theses for the competition from 15.03.-15.10.2020. Information on this will soon be available at www.weser-ems.eu.

The Strategy Council also sees itself as the mouthpiece of the energy industry in the region and will continue to maintain intensive contact and exchange with decision-makers from the region, the state, the federal government and the EU, and organise another parliamentary evening in 2021.

Picture caption: The Weser-Ems Energy Strategy Council visits EWE in Huntorf. From left: Hartmut Neumann (Chamber of Commerce and Industry Papenburg/ East Frisia), Dr. Jürgen Meister (OFFIS), Andreas Witte (Chamber of Commerce Osnabrück), Wedigo von Wedel (DLR Institute for Networked Energy Systems), Olaf Meinen (District Administrator LK Aurich), Thorsten Janßen (BFE e.V.), Roland Hentschel (City of Oldenburg), Johanna Nobel (OLEC), Klaus Zelder (City of Oldenburg), Dr. Jörg Ritter (BTC AG), Dr. Stephan Barth (Forwind), Jürgen Krogmann (Lord Mayor of the City of Oldenburg), Prof. Thomas Wegener (Jade HS), Alexander Thole (LK Cloppenburg), Paul Schneider (EWE GASSPEICHER), Dr. Michael Koch (IÖB), Thorsten Wieting (EWE/ EWE NETZ). Picture: OLEC e.V./ Georg Blum

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