State Secretary kicks off summer tour on the topic of “Transformation of the Economy” with a visit to Hörmann KG in Ichtershausen
To kick off his 2023 summer tour on the topic of "Economic Transformation," State Secretary for Economic Affairs Carsten Feller visited Hörmann KG in Ichtershausen (Ilm district) today. Last year, the company partially converted the energy supply of its largest German production site from natural gas to self-produced green hydrogen. To achieve this, the company installed a photovoltaic system and an electrolysis plant for hydrogen production, which is then used in a combined heat and power plant to generate process heat. The Free State of Thuringia supported the project with more than €700,000 from state and EU funds. The company's stated goal is to reduce climate-damaging CO2 emissions and become less dependent on the regular energy market.
“With his project, Hörmann is a pioneer of decarbonization in Thuringia and demonstrates how the issue can be tackled,” said Feller. “As a state, we were therefore very pleased to support the investment.” The approach can easily be rolled out to other companies and sectors. “In the future, there will be no way around switching to CO2-neutral energy sources and production processes for the entire economy,” the State Secretary continued. Given fluctuating and generally rising prices for fossil fuels, this is ultimately a matter of competitiveness and energy security for businesses.
The costs of the energy transition are high, Feller continued. According to estimates by KfW, the additional investments required by German industry for climate protection could amount to well over €460 billion by 2045. For Thuringian industrial companies, this translates to roughly €9 billion – approximately €380 million per year during this period. The State Secretary therefore called on the federal government to create effective funding incentives to help manage these costs. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which, like large corporations, are also predominantly subject to international competition, must be able to benefit from such incentives. Thuringia itself must also take the increasing need for support for corporate investments in decarbonization into account in future budgets.
During his summer tour, "Transformation of the Economy," the State Secretary will be learning about the situation of companies on their path to CO2 neutrality in the coming weeks, discovering innovative solutions and projects for the decarbonization of products and processes, and discussing further expansion steps, as well as problems and support needs, with the companies. "Many companies in the Free State have long since embraced the challenges of the energy transformation, developed new energy sources and savings potential, or are already working on new technologies and products to utilize the opportunities and potential of the energy transition," said the State Secretary. "I want to make these diverse activities more transparent with my tour."