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economic development in Germany

Jaeger

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Audi is moving ahead with networked traffic lights in Düsseldorf. After Ingolstadt, the city on the Rhine is the second in Europe in which Audi is introducing its Traffic Light Information service.
At the end of January, Audi drivers will see information from around 150 traffic lights in their cockpit, thus increasing their chance of catching a “green wave”. By early summer most of the intersections in Düsseldorf, approximately 450 out of a total of some 600 installations, will be networked. Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) services like Audi Traffic Light Information increase efficiency, convenience and safety on the roads.


Audi Traffic Light Information consists of two functions: Green Light Optimised Speed Advisory (GLOSA) and Time-to-Green. GLOSA calculates the ideal speed for getting a “green wave”. For example, if the function indicates the applicable speed limit, the next traffic light will be reached at green. Drivers do not have to accelerate unnecessarily, they are not stressed, and they drive more safely. GLOSA can also suggest reducing speed gradually about 250 metres ahead of the traffic lights so that the driver and the cars behind reach the intersection when the lights turn to green. This reduces uneconomical stop-and-go traffic.
If stopping at a red light is unavoidable, a countdown displays the seconds remaining until the next green phase begins (Time-to-Green). Drivers can relax, take their foot off the gas pedal and save fuel. A number of studies conclude that drivers move through cities more efficiently thanks to networked traffic lights. In a pilot project, Audi was able to reduce fuel consumption by 15%.

“With Audi Traffic Light Information we wish to improve convenience for drivers, increase traffic safety and encourage an economical style of driving that looks ahead,” said Andre Hainzlmaier, Head of Development for Apps, Connected Services and Smart City at Audi. “To do this, we have to predict precisely how traffic lights will behave in the next two minutes. At the same time, exact forecasts are the biggest challenge. Most signals react variably to traffic volume and continuously adapt the intervals at which they switch between red and green.”

Audi and its project partner Traffic Technology Services (TTS) have developed a complex analytical algorithm that calculates exact predictions from three sources: from the control programme of the traffic signals; from the real-time data of the traffic computer, a combination of road-occupation cameras, detector strips in the road surface, data on approaching buses and trams, and buttons that pedestrians press; as well as from historical data. The forecast algorithm improves itself continuously and learns how, for example, the traffic volume changes in morning commuter traffic or at midday when children leave nurseries and schools.
The Audi fleet plays a decisive part in optimising the traffic light forecasts. “The cars send anonymised data when traffic lights are crossed to an Audi backend, which checks whether the actual crossings of traffic lights correspond to the forecast data. Only after this are the traffic lights cleared for the display in the car,” Hainzlmaier explained.
In future the cities, too, will receive useful information about their traffic light infrastructure. The data show, for example, whether cars stop unusually often at a particular intersection or whether the average waiting time is comparatively long. “We aggregate the recorded data into reports that we will make available to the city authorities. Traffic lights can then be given more efficient phasing and traffic will flow better.”
Audi Traffic Light Information premiered in 2016 in Las Vegas. Today this V2I service is available at more than 10,000 intersections in North America, including some 2,000 in Manhattan/New York City and more than 1,600 around the US capital Washington D.C. Audi is also the world’s first automotive manufacturer to network its series-production models with city traffic lights.
Audi Traffic Light Information operates in all Audi e-tron, A4, A6, A7, A8, Q3, Q7 and Q8 models that have been produced since mid-July 2019 (the 2020 model year). The pre-requisites are the Audi connect Navigation & Infotainment package and the optional camera-based traffic-sign recognition.
 

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On October 31, Berlin Brandenburg airport is scheduled to open. After years of delay, the airport hopes to be able to receive commercial passenger flights by this October.

The German capital’s new airport was supposed to open in November 2011, to help replace the city’s three airports: Schönefeld, Tegel, and Tempelhof. However, the opening date was delayed multiple times, due to issues with key systems such as the passenger information systems, fire suppression and more. This has left Berlin operating with two major airports, making traveling into and out of the city more difficult.

Seven days after Brandenburg Airport’s opening date, all flight operations will be transferred in to the new airport. Lufthansa’s last flight from Tegel will be flight LH1955 to Munich on November 7. The first Lufthansa departure from Brandenburg will be on November 8, flight LH173 to Frankfurt.

Lufthansa will be joined at Brandenburg Airport by its subsidiary airlines Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines on November 8. Low-cost subsidiary Eurowings will begin operations to the new airport on November 4.

For Lufthansa group customers, there will also be a new Lufthansa lounge which will be located at Terminal 1, and will supposedly have good views of the Berlin skyline and the airport’s apron.
“We care about Berlin. No one else connects Berlin with the world as we do. Six Lufthansa Group airlines fly to the German capital – with up to 33,000 passengers a day. 270 destinations can be reached with only one transfer.” stated Lufthansa executive board member Harry Hoghmeister.

as an additional note, Austrian Airlines, SWISS Airlines have moved their operations to Berlin-Brandenburg airport as well.
 

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This follows the announcement on November 29 by the airport’s CEO Mr Engelbert Lütke Daldrup that the airport will finally open on October 31 2020.

the rail link will run from the Berlin-Brandenburg airport to Dresden, Hamburg and Rostock
 

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with the opening of the Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, Berlin will convert Tegel airport into a research & industrial park. Beuth University of Applied Sciences will move to Tegel, and it will bring 1,000 companies with 20,000 employees. It will be finished by spring 2021, and hopes to further the employee rate to 34,000.
 

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CEVA logistics win a 5 year contract with Airbus to manage spare parts and components to Germany, France, Spain and the U.K.
 

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Following the successful start of production and launch of nation-wide sales, Next.e.GO Mobile SE, the independent German EV manufacturer, accelerates opening its Brand Stores. After the inauguration of the first ever brand store in Dusseldorf earlier this September, e.GO has arrived in Hamburg just as the World's largest Triathlon Champions series gets into gear. The e.GO Hamburg brand store is located by the Jungfernstieg in one of the city's most exclusive shopping streets at Große Bleichen 10. This address is already well-known to the Hamburg community, as it was previously home to the world's pioneering independent electric car company from the other side of the Atlantic.
In the e.GO brand stores, visitors can experience the vehicles personally up close and get acquainted with e.GO's disruptive production technology, unique design elements and its smart features. Customers can also do test drives and order the vehicle directly. The company plans the opening of its new brand stores in other cities in Europe with Milan, Athens and Dubai on the way.
Alongside the start of the company's global campaign "The Time Is Now", the brand store openings mark another important milestone in e.GO's journey to accelerate the much-needed transformation in the urban e-mobility by offering a sustainable, durable and affordable electric car that is also unique in many aspects.
"We are delighted to bring e.GO to the beautiful city of Hamburg. A metropolitan that is at forefront of urban transformation and a welcoming and vibrant community whose endearing greeting not only welcomes every ship arriving at the harbour but also the much-needed change to emission-free mobility," said Ali Vezvaei, Chairman of the Board at Next.e.GO Mobile SE.
Affordability, ease of use and life cycle sustainability are key to driving the adoption of electro mobility in the ever-growing urban environment. e.GO offers them all. The robust aluminium spaceframe and the highly durable polymeric outer body give the e.GO Life a longer life cycle and lower total cost of ownership. The smart battery swap feature, first of its kind for an urban electric car, provides a different user experience and peace of mind while enhancing the ecological footprint of e.GO compared to many other choices in the market.
 

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Following the successful start of production and launch of nation-wide sales, Next.e.GO Mobile SE, the independent German EV manufacturer, has begun opening its Brand Stores across Europe with first stop in Dusseldorf, the capital of Germany's most populous state.

Inaugurated on the 4th of September with the presence of media and guests just ahead of IAA 2021, the first Brand Store is located at the iconic Schadow-Arkaden by the Düsseldorf's Königsallee, one of Europe's most visited fashion destinations.
In the brand stores, visitors can experience the vehicles personally up close and get acquainted with e.GO's disruptive production technology, unique design elements and its smart features. Customers could also do test drive and order the vehicle directly at the Brand Store.

The company is accelerating the opening of its new brand stores in other cities with Hamburg, Munich, Milan, Athens and Dubai on the way.

Alongside the start of company's global campaign "The Time Is Now", the opening of the first brand store marks another important milestone in e.GO's journey to accelerate the much-needed transformation in the urban e-mobility by offering a sustainable, durable and affordable electric car that is also unique in many aspects.

"The Time is Now reflects our profound conviction of the urgency for a collective action as well as the need for individual responsibility to combat climate change. We ought to challenge the old habits and limitless consumption, to rethink mobility with enhanced utilization and circular economy being front and center. Our children only have one planet to live on!" said Ali Vezvaei, Chairman of the Board at Next.e.GO Mobile SE.
Affordability, ease of use and life cycle sustainability are key to driving the adoption of electro mobility in the ever growing urban environment. And e.GO offers them all. The robust aluminium spaceframe and the highly durable polymeric outer body give the e.GO Life a longer life cycle and lower total cost of ownership. The smart battery swap feature, first of its kind for an urban electric car, provides a different user experience and peace of mind while enhancing the ecological footprint of e.GO compared to many other choices in the market.
 

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Digital Realty's Interxion is leasing an additional 12,000 sqm (129,000 sq ft) in Düsseldorf to expand its data center footprint in the German city.

Interxion Deutschland GmbH has leased the additional space in the property it already occupies on In der Steele 27-43 in west Germany for 20 years from European real estate firm Aroundtown.
Aroundtown said the Digital Realty subsidiary will use the additional space for the expansion of its data centers.

The property consists of several building sections with just over 38,000 sq m (409,000 sq ft) of office and storage space.

According to Interxion, its Düsseldorf data center has more than 4,500 sq m (48,400 sq ft) of equipped space, and more than 10,000 sqm (107,600 sq ft) of additional shell and core space. The facility also houses the infrastructure of the ECIX and DE-CIX Internet exchanges.

Based in Luxembourg and acquired by TLG Immobilien last year, Aroundtown invests in commercial and residential properties in central locations in European cities, primarily in Germany and the Netherlands.
 

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Amazon wants to expand further in Germany and plans to erect eight new logistics buildings by the first half of 2022. This will create 3.000 additional permanent jobs with Amazon Germany. The expansion is necessary to meet customer demand and expand the range of products.

The new logistics locations are going to be placed in Dummerstorf, Erding, Friedrichsdorf, Helmstedt, Hof / Gattendorf, Neu-Ulm, Weiterstadt and Wenden. These will be logistics, sorting, and distribution centers. In the months before the buildings go into operation, Amazon will be filling positions in the areas of logistics and shipping, recruiting, technology, human resources, health, safety, IT.

In the last 12 months alone we have created more than 3,000 permanent jobs in logistics in Germany. Now more than 3,000 more will be added next year. These workplaces support communities of all sizes, from larger cities like Hof / Gattendorf to smaller towns like Dummerstorf. As a company, we are constantly working to improve, we hear what moves our employees and strive to be the best employer in the world”, says Stefano Perego, Vice President Customer Fulfillment in Europe.

This recruitment campaign follows a period of backlash on Amazon’s staff policies. One of the main points of critique were the low wages earned by employees. As of July, the company introduced a starting wage of 12 euros gross per hour.

Between the years 2010 and 2020, Amazon has invested almost 40 billion euros in Germany, including over 10 billion euros in 2020 alone. The number of permanent employees in Germany will become over 28,000 by the end of the year across all corporate divisions. Amazon now has around 60 locations across Germany. Over 19,000 permanent employees work in the German Amazon logistics network alone.
 

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Intel has unveiled plans for a massive chipmaking site in Germany as part of a planned €80 billion investment in Europe over the next decade.

The US company said the goal is to create "a next-generation European chip ecosystem" and help tackle the ongoing global shortage of semiconductors, which has plagued the continent's carmaking industry.

With an initial investment of €33 billion, including €17 billion for the German plans, Intel's spending will help meet surging demand for chips used in computers, cars, smartphones, and other gadgets, as well as reduce in the long run Europe's reliance on Asian suppliers.

The chipmaker is spreading its investments around half a dozen countries, boosting its existing factory in Ireland, setting up a design and research facility in France, and a packaging and assembly site in Italy.

The Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, welcomed Intel's latest announcement, and said the bloc's new Chips Act would make the continent "a leader in the global semiconductor production".

Intel will set up two factories in the German city of Magdeburg, creating 7,000 construction jobs, 3,000 permanent jobs at the company, and tens of thousands of additional jobs across suppliers and partners, it said.

The company will invest an additional €12 billion in an Irish facility which will take its total investment in Ireland to more than €30 billion.

It is also in talks with Italy for a back-end manufacturing facility for a potential investment of up to €4.5 billion and plans to start operations between 2025 and 2027.

In France, Intel plans to build its new European research hub, creating 1,000 new high-tech jobs.

The company will also increase its lab space in Poland and plans to establish joint labs with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center in Spain for advanced computing.
 

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Siemens Energy AG is planning to start industrial-scale production of electrolysers for green hydrogen at a multi-gigawatt factory in Berlin next year.

The German energy company said on Thursday that it is working on a EUR-30-million (USD 33.3m) project to set up production lines for proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers at its site in Huttenstrasse in Berlin that will be powered entirely with green electricity.

The plant currently manufactures gas turbines which are expected to switch to complete hydrogen operation by 2030. Now, the gas turbines are capable of operating on hydrogen at 50%.

At the Berlin site, Siemens Energy will host the mass production of individual electrolyser cells which will be combined into stacks. The stacks will then be put together into larger process-based units at the site in Muelheim. The Munich-based company noted that the electrolysers of its latest product line are suitable for applications up to the high hundreds of megawatts.

"For us, hydrogen is an important component of the future energy world. For this to be economically viable, the manufacturing costs for electrolysers must be significantly reduced. With our new production facility, we are helping to make hydrogen competitive sooner,” said chief executive Christian Bruch.
 

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Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg is to become the seat of Germany’s first two-storey commercial and logistics property developed by Four Parx, AEW asset manager and the general contractor GSE. This comes in response to limited space and the increasing cost of land especially in urban areas.

Flagship project in densely populated urban area​

Four Parx has developed the 123,000-square-metre property on the former production site of beverage manufacturer Refresco near the Port of Hamburg and the city centre. The revitalisation has created urgently-needed space without having to seal a green field. The ecological building concept is now aiming for "BREEAM - Excellent" certification, which takes into account the ecological quality of materials, water and energy.

Great demand for space​

Access to both levels is via ground-level gates, electrohydraulic dock levellers and two heated ramps for lorries of up to 45 t to reach the upper floor. Full occupancy is expected before the opening on April 1, 2022. Airbus is leasing the entire first floor on a long-term basis. Reservations have been submitted for the remaining space.

Dr. Rolf Strittmatter, Managing Director of Hamburg Invest business development agency, which was involved in the complex approval process, remarked: "Large-scale commercial space is extremely scarce in the state of Hamburg and in the neighbouring hinterland. The revitalisation of the approximately 24.7 acre industrial site with this innovative, flagship project gives the market an urgently-needed hall and logistics space. The area-efficient development of such a space is a model for similar projects in Germany and Europe."
 

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Hamburg is launching the so-called "InnoFinTech" funding scheme for start-ups in the financial and insurance sectors as well as those in the legal and property sectors. Grants of up to EUR 200,000 per start-up are available for ventures launched by existing start-ups. The grants can be used to finance up to 90 per cent of the costs. Applications can be submitted to IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH, a subsidiary of the Investitions- und Förderbank Hamburg (IFB Hamburg). InnoFinTech is a joint project by the Ministry of Finance, the Chamber of Commerce and Finanzplatz Hamburg e. V. and is part of the "Financial Industry Master Plan" adopted in autumn 2021 and which has been allocated EUR 2.5 million in funds.

Financial support and backing for settlement and networking​

"We and our our partners, the Chamber of Commerce Hamburg and the Finanzplatz Hamburg have set ourselves the goal of supporting young companies in fintech, insurtech, legaltech or proptechs via the Financial Industry Master Plan, and thereby raising the value creation and job potential for Hamburg as a business location," said Dr. Andreas Dressel, Senator for Finance. This is where the InnoFintech funding scheme launched by IFB Hamburg comes in. The partners to the master plan wish to support new companies with settlement and networking issues. The Fintech Agency, launched by the Hamburg Invest business development agency, offers wide-ranging information and advice on finding sites, location and growth. The Initiative Finanzplatz Hamburg e.V. will broker contacts between start-ups and its own member companies. The Hamburg Investors Network (HIN) aims to establish a systematic matchmaking process for the target group to bring fintechs together with business angels and other investors.

Hamburg's young, dynamic fintech scene​

A strong fintech scene is important for the viability of the entire financial centre in future, according to Dr Harald Vogelsang, Chair of Finanzplatz Hamburg e. V., and noted: "Hamburg is already a well-established fintech location in Germany and Europe with an above-average share of young fintechs." The InnoFinTech scheme can potentially support stakeholders according to their needs and offer other businesses an incentive to settle in Hamburg. The city has a particularly young and dynamic fintech scene, according to the German Fintech Report 2021. Around 61 per cent of fintechs in Hamburg have been in business for less than five years. Some 75 fintechs were in operation across the city in February 2022, according to the Fintech Monitor.

Financial Industry Master Plan 2021-2025​

The "Hamburg Financial Industry Master Plan 2021-2025", adopted in autumn 2021, by the Ministry for Finance, the Chamber of Commerce and Finanzplatz Hamburg e. V., aims to position the city well positioned for the future and to strengthen the financial services sector in the long-term. To this end, new growth potential will be identified and exploited. The benchmarks are successful financial locations of comparable size and framework conditions throughout Europe. This should send an important signal to an industry that is central to Hamburg in the upcoming "relaunch phase in the wake of the coronavirus crisis", according to the partners.
 

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Battery manufacturing startup Northvolt announced today a new battery cell gigafactory coming to Germany.

It’s the firm’s third large-scale battery factory.

Northvolt is a battery startup founded by two former Tesla executives who worked on Tesla’s first Gigafactory in Nevada with Panasonic.

The company planned to recreate the “gigafactory” concept of having a giant battery factory producing in the “gigawatt-hour” level of battery cells for electric cars.

It received backing and started factory projects with several automakers, including Volkswagen, and last year, it added Volvo to the list with a plan to build a new battery factory in Europe to support the Swedish automaker’s EV ambitions.
In December, Northvolt announced that it started battery cell production at its first gigafactory – lending more credibility to its several other battery factories in partnership with automakers.

Now the company is already closing the deal on a third gigafactory:
Today Northvolt announces its intention to establish a battery gigafactory in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany. With an annual potential production capacity of 60 GWh, Northvolt Drei will deliver a supply of sustainably produced lithium-ion batteries to the European market, sufficient for some one million electric vehicles.”

Adding to its two other gigafactories, it should increase Northvolt’s total capacity to a significant 170 GWh of battery cell production when the new plant goes into production in 2025.

Peter Carlsson, Co-Founder and CEO of Northvolt, commented on the new announcement:
“We’re excited to announce Northvolt Drei – a project which fits well into a promising future cluster of clean technology ventures emerging in northern Germany and advances the wider European transition towards a sustainable society within which Germany plays a crucial role.”

Part of the reason the new plant landed in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein, is due to the region being known for having the cleanest energy grid in Germany thanks to onshore and offshore wind power, which is also reinforced by clean energy provided through grid interconnections to Denmark and Norway.
Carlsson added,

“It matters how we produce a battery cell. If you use coal in your production, you embed a fair amount of CO2 into your battery, but if we use clean energy, we can build a very sustainable product. Our philosophy is that new energy-intensive industries, such as battery manufacturing, should be established in actual geographical proximity to where the clean energy is produced,”

Battery cell production is an energy-intensive manufacturing process and having access to clean energy makes a big difference
Northvolt is also committed to establishing a recycling facility at the new plant. The company has a strong commitment to recycling batteries and plans to use a high percentage of recycled battery materials in its future production.

Last year, Northvolt claimed to have produced the first battery cell from ‘100% recycled nickel, manganese, and cobalt.’
 

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A group of German companies, led by gas storage operator VNG Gasspeicher GmbH and energy company Uniper SE (ETR:UN01), will receive EUR 34 million (USD 40.24m) from the federal government to study the industrial-scale production, storage, transport and marketing of green hydrogen in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

The consortium, including also renewables developer Terrawatt Planungsgesellschaft mbH, gas pipeline operator ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH and research institute DBI – Gastechnologisches Institut, will immediately start work on the Bad Lauchstaedt Energy Park project which will be implemented in two stages and is worth a total of EUR 140 million.

The government financing will be used to further develop and test production and transport of green hydrogen as well as central components of hydrogen storage as a "real laboratory of the energy transition" with development and testing works starting this autumn, Uniper said on Thursday.

As part of the project, an electrolysis plant with a 30-MW capacity will produce hydrogen using renewable energy from a wind farm to be built nearby and a 20-km (12.43mi) gas pipeline will deliver the hydrogen to the chemicals companies in the neighbouring town of Leuna. The second stage of the project is expected to take place in 2026 and includes the completion of a 180m (590.6ft) high salt cavern where green hydrogen will be stored.

The financial support will be provided by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as part of the 7th Energy Research Programme, under which a total of EUR 100 million will be granted for research projects that promote the application of innovations in practice.
 
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