With the Hydrogen Technology Conference & Expo, a hydrogen and fuel cell fair has taken place in the city of Bremen for the first time. On October 20th and 21st, around 130 exhibitors seized the opportunity to finally be in the presence of customers and business associates after the long break on account of COVID. The number of participating institutions, however, were not enough to fill the exhibition hall. As a result, the fair gave the appearance of being rather improvised. Stand numbers were missing, a map of the hall was only to be found on the app, and the stands were for the most part small and sparse in terms of presentation material. When asked, the exhibitors said that they were just getting a feel for what the new trade fair could bring.
Participation in the event was quite extensive, especially considering the competing events in fall 2021. The World Hydrogen Congress in Rotterdam and Intersolar alongside the energy storage fair ees Europe in Munich had just taken place at the beginning of October. And the month before, Automechnika in Frankfurt am Main and f-cell in Stuttgart had as well.
The idea of a trade fair dedicated to hydrogen attracted not only more than 100 exhibitors from various countries, but also, according to the organizers, around 2,500 visitors. Despite admission being free, the audience was mainly composed of industry professionals, especially participants in the Hydrogen Technology Conference running in parallel. With the sparse signage posted around the exhibition grounds, there were hardly any visits from people who by chance were in the area of the hall. Nevertheless, there was such lively exchange at the stands that the presenters praised the high quality of the discussions. Irrespective of the current boom in this industry, the basic idea of giving the little hydrogen branch its own trade fair seems to be a promising one. It’ll be interesting to see how the Hydrogen Technology Expo in 2022 turns out, since the planning time is relatively short. At least it will not overlap, on October 19th and 20th, with f-cell, which is scheduled for October 4th and 5th.
Author: Eva Augsten
As the director of this show, I would like to add a few missing points to this write up.
The hall was not filled due to us originally being in halle 4 of the messe and actually outgrowing that smaller hall due to popular demand, thus we moved into a bigger hall to give as much opportunity to companies after a difficult year. Let’s not forget, we were still larger than any dedicated event in Europe for the Hydrogen sector, the show was curated over an extensive period and we welcomed many new companies that we’re beyond the typical faces in the sector.
We went with an app over a show guide to be more sustainable and as such a more responsible organiser, given the whole mission to implement a Hydrogen economy is actually tackling climate change. 2022 we’ll ensure there is more signage and maps to increase accessibility for all.
Furthermore, we advised companies to actually take small stands as 2021 was not about going “big” or “flash” but more about connecting after a difficult 12 months. 2022 we have seen an increase in the average size of space due to the show scaling up for this October and the need to bring physical technology to showcase.
Final numbers, we actually welcomed 2,700 attendees….1,800 being in the first 90 minutes of day 1 and 600 conference participants over the whole two days.
We would love to welcome you back in 2022 as we expect not only to fill hall 5 but also an additional hall with an expected 250 exhibitors and 5000 international attendees, we’ve already welcomed 123 exhibitors in 14 weeks so it is clear the ROI and value of this dedicated event was met!
Thank you for your participation in this exciting new dedicated expo and we look forward to welcoming you this October.