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Leading fairs in Hamburg are driving the energy transition
The energy transition is among the most pressing issues of our time. Renewable energies play a particularly significant role in this process.
The energy transition is among the most pressing issues of our time. Renewable energies play a particularly significant role in this process. By 2030, renewable energies should account for at least 80 percent of our electricity consumption, and Germany aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2045. These are ambitious targets. Continuous dialogue between the scientific, business and political communities will therefore be necessary to drive the energy transition. Hamburg is among the principal venues for this dialogue. After all, the big city on the river Elbe is internationally acclaimed as a leader in the field of renewable energies. Hamburg is also involved in hydrogen technology and sustainable mobility, particularly in the shipping and aviation industries.
This is reflected in the events held by Hamburg Messe und Congress. From WindEnergy Hamburg and the SMM maritime trade fair to the Hydrogen Technology Expo: Hamburg is home to no fewer than three of the world’s leading trade fairs that provide an ideal platform for advancing the energy transition. Within just seven weeks – from 3rd September to 24th October 2024 – ‘the Hamburg Big Three of Energy Transition’ will bring together around 100,000 trade visitors from all over the world and 4,500 international exhibitors in the exhibition halls, along with 750 top-class speakers for specialist lectures and panel discussions.
Held from the 3rd to 6th September, SMM, the world’s leading fair in the maritime sector, is first on the agenda. Around 2,200 international exhibitors will gather under the slogan ‘Driving the maritime transition’ to provide an impression of the state of the art and open the door to specialised topics with significant potential for the future. Besides the topics of recruiting and artificial intelligence, the 31st SMM will prioritise the maritime energy transition.
WindEnergy Hamburg will open its doors just three weeks after the SMM. It is considered the world’s pre-eminent networking hub for the wind energy sector and is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. More than 1,500 companies regularly use the event to showcase their innovations and solutions to up to 40,000 visitors. Accompanying the trade fair are conference sessions with senior participants on topics that are moving the industry. Just how closely the topics of WindEnergy Hamburg and the maritime industry are related is also demonstrated by the approximately 110 maritime exhibitors who remain at the exhibition centre after the end of SMM to assemble their stands for WindEnergy.
The latest addition to the trio is Hydrogen Technology Expo Europe, the world’s largest trade fair for the hydrogen industry, which is moving from Bremen to Hamburg in 2024. The organiser, Trans-Global Events, and HMC have entered into a long-term partnership to launch new H2 technologies for the challenges affecting the energy sector going forward. The first joint Hydrogen Technology Expo Europe will take place from 22nd to 24th October 2024. Adding to the Hydrogen Technology Expo Europe is the Carbon Capture Technology Expo, which will be held simultaneously as one of the leading trade fairs for the capture, utilisation and storage of CO2 and for CO2 reduction technologies.
“Taken together, these events represent an extraordinary focus on related topics. We are delighted to offer this combination of trade fairs, which will make a global contribution to this important topic, as well as presenting the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg as an important hub of the energy transition. After all, more than half of all exhibitors and visitors to these trade fairs come from abroad,” says Uwe Fischer, CEO of Hamburg Messe und Congress. "The high-quality conference programmes and broad array of exhibition focuses highlight our task of driving the economy in the metropolitan region as a special platform for networking and innovation”.
About Astrid Dose
Talking, writing, organising – and having lots of fun! This is what my days at the EEHH Cluster look like. I’ve been responsible for public relations and marketing for the Hamburg industry network since 2011. I studied History and English and have a soft spot for technical issues.