Press
The Hannover Messe always offers a look into the future. This year it is clear: a lot will soon change between Germany and its partner country Norway.
Oslo/Berlin – When the Chancellor comes, the appointment must be important. The Hannover Messe is one such event. In recent years, Olaf Scholz (SPD) has personally opened the largest industrial show in the world in the Congress Center in the chic zoo district. And often used the opportunity to make big promises: more speed in the process energy transitionrapid implementation of LNG terminals.
Hannover Messe starts: Olaf Scholz is a guest at the opening
The Hannover Messe is always a look into the future. This year, Norway is the partner country that is currently taking very big steps forward in green transformation. “Pioneering the Green Industrial Transition” is the motto of the trade fair and both countries have been making it clear for months: they want to work much more closely together and launch a kind of industrial revolution together.
Norway sees Germany as the “most important partner in Europe”
“Germany is Norway’s most important partner in Europe on this issue,” explains Michael Kern, managing director of the German-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce AHK. In fact, Norway needs industrial partners; for decades the oil and gas business was the country's main economic pillar, which, thanks to fossil raw materials, has become one of the richest countries in the world from the poorhouse of Europe. The goal is rapid diversification. The big difference to Germany: In Norway people approach things much more casually than in this country. For a few years now, the country in the north has been building gigantic battery production out of the ground – and practically out of nowhere.
The start-up Morrow, for example, wants to produce electricity storage sustainably, starting with a product line in Asia that is now being relocated to Norway. Everything should happen on site. Critical raw materials, most of which are still imported from Asia, should ideally be obtained in Europe in the future. The overarching goal is also: greater independence from China.
Germany and Norway want to become independent from China: “Robert Habeck and I are driving partnership forward”
“We know that we are far too dependent on China. We need to build a strong, ecologically sustainable value chain for battery production in Europe,” Norway’s Economics Minister Jan Christian Vestre recently said in a small group in Oslo. “The strategic partnership between Norway and Germany that Robert Habeck and I are promoting focuses on these areas. The collaboration will be of great benefit to both economies.”
![Norway's Economics Minister Jan Christian Vestre.](https://www.merkur.de/assets/images/34/322/34322124-norwegens-wirtschaftsminister-jan-christian-vestre-OzBG.jpg)
Meanwhile, despite the budget crisis, the federal government decided at the beginning of the year that Germany should invest around one billion euros in raw material projects at home and abroad in the coming years via the state development bank KfW. It is still unclear exactly which projects are in focus. What is clear, however, is that there are several potential deposits for raw materials such as rare earths in Norway. For example, the huge Fens field in Telemark, a 580 million year old volcanic area that is to be developed in the future.
Norway's Economics Minister at the Hannover Messe: “We see that the demand for oil and gas is falling faster”
The Norwegian government repeatedly makes it clear that it wants to become a reliable supplier of raw materials for green value chains. “We are seeing demand for oil and gas falling even faster than we thought. And to be honest, that's a good thing, because the business is not sustainable and we have to move away from oil quickly,” said Economics Minister Vestre.
Potentially large target group: the German auto industry, says Michael Kern from the AHK. However, battery raw materials from China will probably always be cheaper than from Norway. “It’s not just about money,” believes Kern. In Norway they want to keep the environmental impact of mining as low as possible and are developing new technologies for extraction. Also to stand out from China, where raw materials are often extracted under questionable conditions. “A corresponding seal can certainly be a selling point for consumers and therefore also for producers,” says Kern.
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