The German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (DWV) took a decisive step during this year’s general meeting on 14 May 2019 to be able to make a stronger commitment in the future to the development of a green energy industry based on hydrogen as an energy source.

The members present in Leipzig elected Alfred Klees, Head of the Gas Technologies and Energy Systems Unit at the head office of the German Gas and Water Association (DVGW), to the association’s Executive Board as a further assessor, so that he can from now on act as a link between the two associations and set new energy policy accents.

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As a new DWV board member, Alfred Klees is to work around thirty percent of his main working time for the H₂ and FC association. He will be supported by the lawyer Dr. Uwe Wetzel, the head of the Brussels DVGW office, who will also act for both associations. In return, DWV Chairman Werner Diwald is to become a member of the DVGW Executive Committee. Diwald had agreed these and other details with DVGW Chairman Prof. Gerald Linke in previous discussions.

The planned measures also include the DWV office moving into the premises of the Berlin representative office of the 700-strong Gas and Water Association during the year. The planned move will also be accompanied by further changes at DWV: It is becoming apparent, for example, that the long-standing secretary Dr. Ulrich Schmidtchen will probably not run for office again in the next board election in 2020, as he is retiring. The extent to which he will continue to support the association after that or whether further board positions will have to be filled by founding members is currently open.

The basis of a future energy industry

As a new advisory board, Klees is to convince both the members of the association and the public that a new era is about to dawn. The DVGW, which has hitherto mainly represented natural gas, is to become greener so that it can continue to have a say in the energy industry in the future. Natural gas is to be successively substituted by hydrogen, according to the new specification, which will henceforth focus on a two-energy source system. The extent to which this strategy is actually supported by all DVGW member companies is still unclear. What is certain, however, is that Klees’ task will not be an easy one

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read more in H2-international July 2019