BIP
On 26 October 2023, the 15th Polish-Saxon Economic Forum, co-organised by the Marshal Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, the Free State of Saxony and the Saxony Economic Support Agency, took place in Dresden during the Clean Hydrogen Convention. The theme of this year's edition was 'Hydrogen - fuel of the future'.
The forum was opened by Mr. Martin Dulig, Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport of the Free State of Saxony, and Marek Obrębalski PhD, Vice-Chairman of the Lower Silesian Regional Assembly. The Saxon State Minister for Economic Affairs emphasised the importance of energy transition and cooperation in both regions. The Vice-Chairman of the Regional Assembly shared this opinion, while pointing out that entrepreneurs from the German-Polish border region should be activated in this respect.
This was followed by speakers who provided an insight into the development of hydrogen technology, its distribution and use in Saxony and Lower Silesia. Mr. Peter Lucas PhD from the Saxon State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport presented a lecture entitled ‘Saxony as a location for the hydrogen economy - from strategy to implementation’, showing plans for the development of the hydrogen economy and the scale of its contribution to the Saxon economy. On the Polish side, a lecture entitled 'Strengthening the Resilience of the European Economy through the Development of Hydrogen Valleys in Poland and Integration into International Hydrogen Corridors' was presented by Ms. Ewa Andruszków, a representative of the Lower Silesian Hydrogen Valley. There were also speeches by representatives of Saxon and Lower Silesian entrepreneurs active in the RES sector. The German side was represented by Ms. Katja Mattner, representative of the start-up Sunfire GmbH. The Polish representative was Mr. Andrzej Jeżewski, owner of Promet-Plast s.c. and leader of the Oława Energy Cluster.
The event was concluded with a panel discussion entitled 'The hydrogen economy in the Polish-Saxon dialogue: potential and perspectives for cooperation', attended by Ms. Katja Mattner, Frances Zedler PhD, representative of the Energy Cluster Energy Saxony GmbH; Ms. Agnieszka Spirydowicz, director of development for the Lower Silesian Hydrogen Valley; and Maciej Zathey PhD, director of the Institute for Territorial Development.
After the official part of the Polish-Saxon Forum, a delegation of Lower Silesian entrepreneurs, representatives of science, local government institutions and business support jointly visited the stands of the Clean Hydrogen Convention fair. Lower Silesian scientists and entrepreneurs had the opportunity to learn about innovative applications in hydrogen production and distribution, and at the same time establish contacts with German companies and scientific institutions dealing with the RES sector in the broadest sense.
