Greentech is an important driver of transformation for the industrial state of NRW. Düsseldorf, with its outstanding international infrastructure, can representatively bundle and orchestrate the huge potential of the region - and also network it worldwide.

Would you have thought that one in five newly founded green startups in Germany comes from NRW? The Green Startup Monitor NRW 2024 shows how strong the ecosystem for sustainable innovation in the Rhine and Ruhr region already is and how dynamic it has become, especially in recent years. But much more needs to be done: as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases among the federal states, NRW with its energy-intensive industry faces a huge task. The pressure to transform is high if the state government really wants to achieve its goal of climate neutrality by 2045. GreenTech startups play a key role in this.

Theresa Winkels, Head of the Office of Economic Development

So, it made sense that the Digital Innovation Hub Düsseldorf/ Rheinland (digihub Düsseldorf/Rheinland for short), the regional network for digital innovations and startup ideas, applied to become a centre of excellence for greentech ‑ and was awarded the contract in autumn 2024. Düsseldorf is thus asserting itself and can further expand its promising innovation ecosystem. ‘NRW and the Rhine-Ruhr region in particular hold the best cards when it comes to greentech. As an international business metropolis in a strong industrial state, we want to act for the entire federal state in this enormously important transformation. After all, strong cooperation is crucial for the green transformation to succeed,’ says Theresa Winkels, Head of the Office of Economic Development. ‘We therefore provide targeted support with our services to companies that offer innovative technologies, products and services in the field of environmental, resource and climate protection, with a specific focus on the circular economy, recycling and low-emission production.’

The Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce joined the Chambers for GreenTech network on 13 May 2025 – here is the official signing. The network is funded by the German Federal Environment Ministry's Environmental Protection Export Initiative.

Düsseldorf offers advantageous location factors for their creation or establishment and growth, such as excellent transport connections, a dense infrastructure of businessrelated services, an established international trade fair and event system (such as K, the plastics trade fair or the Circular Valley Convention), a balanced mix of industries with many international players and a diverse university landscape: for example, the Centre for Entrepreneurship (CEDUS) at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, the Centre for Innovative Energy Systems (ZIES) at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences and WHU Düsseldorf, one of the strongest German universities in terms of startups. The many projects that have already been put into effect, such as the "Wolkenbügel" in the Media Harbour, show that the city is ideally suited as a kind of greentech real-world condition laboratory.

Close networking with regional hubs and projects such as Circular Valley in Wuppertal, the hydrogen hub H2UB in Essen and the EUREF Campus in Düsseldorf (see info box) is a strategic component of the Digital Hub Initiative. Already established events such as the Future Tech Fest, Germany's largest B2B startup trade fair, or the Tech Innovation Nights can help to further advance the green focus. Existing funding programmes such as Ignition+ for startups in their initial phase and Scaleup. NRW for further growth and internationalisation can also help. ‘We thus offer an excellent platform for discourse, for radical revision and for new developments," explains the Head of Office.’ With TechHub.K67, a close relative of digihub Düsseldorf/Rheinland, there is also a community space in the middle of Düsseldorf that focuses on greentech startups, among other things.

Internationales Schaufenster der Energiewende: der EUREF-Campus Düsseldorf

ABOUT EUREF

The EUREF-Campus Düsseldorf is an international showcase for the energy transition. Over 4,000 employees from established companies, science and research work here in close dialogue on the future topics of energy, mobility and sustainability. In cooperation with the University Alliance Ruhr and the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences and with the participation of the companies based on the campus, a study and further education programme is being developed to adequately reflect the increasing complexity of future energy systems in teaching and training. Karin Teichmann, Spokeswoman of the Management Board, EUREF AG, says: 'Without the targeted use of greentech, we will not achieve our climate targets. That's why we need the exchange and the resulting innovations between science, business and startups in Düsseldorf.'

Gregor Berghausen, Chief Executive of the Düsseldorf, Chamber of Industry and Commerce

Düsseldorf's fertile ecosystem also includes a diverse higher education landscape, e.g. the startup-friendly WHU Düsseldorf...

To ensure that innovative technologies made in Germany can also contribute to climate and environmental protection worldwide, excellent knowledge of foreign target markets is required - and the Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce in cooperation with the Chambers of Foreign Trade has exactly that. Since May 2025, it has therefore also been a member of the DIHK initiative "Chambers for GreenTech", a growing network that is committed to the global dissemination of German environmental technologies. ‘Many other countries do not yet have these technologies for sustainable production, which we already have here in Germany due to our high environmental standards. That's why greentech is a potential export hit,’ explains Gregor Berghausen, Managing Director of the Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce. By joining the network, member companies benefit from structured support services, international contacts and funding information. They can take part in studies, feasibility analyses or pilot projects and gain access to the knowledge and networks of local chambers of commerce abroad. This is a huge opportunity, especially for small and medium-sized companies that have fewer export resources.

After all, state-of-the-art greentech is needed in a wide variety of areas around the world. This ranges from waste utilisation and water treatment to the infrastructure for green hydrogen. Gregor Berghausen illustrates this with a specific example: ‘If you want to produce green hydrogen in Chile, this energy-intensive process would benefit from the country's great solar power. However, it also would require special valves, as those for normal natural gas are not suitable. A valve manufacturer that produces to German standards for the hydrogen sector therefore has enormous scaling potential here.’ Waste sorting systems for the circular economy and certain associated recycling technologies, for example, are also a potential export hit. ‘Many political decision-makers around the world have now realised that there has to be such a thing as a circular economy. They always need technical solutions for this - and we have them here in Germany,’ says Berghausen.

INTENSIVE COOPERATION WITH FRANCE

• digihub Düsseldorf/Rheinland is involved in two programmes facilitating the soft landing of French startups in Germany via the Economic Development Agency and TechHub.K67: since 2020 with the Impact programme of Business France (French government agency for export promotion), and since 2023 as the third location of La French Tech (French funding programme for startups) in Germany.

• At the tech startup event Vivatech, which took place in Paris in mid-June, the Economic Development Agency, together with the Greentech Hub of the De:Hub initiative, highlighted the topic of greentech in France and Germany.

• Stadtwerke Düsseldorf is a sponsor of the La French Tech in Germany Award 2025 in the greentech category. The awards will be presented on 10 September 2025 in the Stadtwerke turbine hall.

But back to the Rhineland. Conversely, more and more international companies are also recognising the huge greentech potential of the region with Düsseldorf as an access centre. For example, the foreign trade promotion agency NRW.Global Business counted 26 FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) projects in the field of renewable energies in 2024 – 16 of these alone in the Düsseldorf area. The trend is also evident in the new research and development activities of players such as Asahi Kasei (plastics and hydrogen), Mitsubishi Electric (renewable energies and heat pumps) and Toshiba (Regenerative Innovation Centre). Other notable examples are the recent settlements on the EUREF-Campus of Schneider Electric, a French electrical engineering group, and Spie Germany Switzerland Austria, a multitechnology service provider for buildings, systems and infrastructures, also headquartered in France. For several years now, digihub Düsseldorf/Rheinland has also been working with the Japanese foreign trade promotion organisation JETRO and the German-Indian startup exchange programme GINSEP. And this year a lot is happening in terms of exchange with our neighbour France (see info box). (Editor's note: The next VIVID will go into more detail and focus on the international aspect). Theresa Winkels aptly summarises: ‘Thanks to an excellent international infrastructure in Düsseldorf, we can network the topic of greentech worldwide and thus bring a lot of expertise, innovation and business to the region.’

NRW is therefore a greentech powerhouse - and Düsseldorf is the perfect location to bundle, communicate and orchestrate this huge potential. •

ABOUT THE HYDROGEN COMPETENCE REGION

Joining forces for hydrogen: the cities of Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Wuppertal, the Rhine district of Neuss and the district of Mettmann are pooling their expertise for the future of hydrogen mobility in the "Hydrogen Competence Region Düssel.Rhein.Wupper". To this end, the participating stakeholders regularly exchange ideas, test various technologies and distribution channels - and thus gradually learn together how a sustainable hydrogen economy can function.

Text: Tom Corrinth
Pictures: EUREF-Campus Düsseldorf, © EUREF AG, Andreas Endermann, DIHK, HHU/Ivo Mayr, Berlin_Cramer, F. Gemein

WELCOME TO THE GREEN POWERHOUSE!

Greentech is an important driver of transformation for the industrial state of NRW. Düsseldorf, with its outstanding international infrastructure, can representatively bundle and orchestrate the huge potential of the region - and also network it worldwide.

WELCOME TO THE GREEN POWERHOUSE!