Business opportunities in Germany’s Net Zero Valley: Rheinisches Revier

Germany's Rheinisches Revier is undergoing one of Europe's most ambitious industrial transformations. Home to 2.4 million people and nearly one million jobs, this region at the border of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium has been an industrial powerhouse for generations. Now it is reinventing itself as the Net Zero Acceleration Valley - a European model region for climate-neutral industry under the EU's Net Zero Industry Act, with hydrogen at its core.

Hydrogen is one of five strategic net-zero technologies for which Rheinisches Revier already has the ecosystem in place to play a leading role. Dutch company VoltH2 is building two electrolysers in Essen and Gelsenkirchen, producing around 800 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. German engineering firm NEUMAN & ESSER, headquartered in the region, is supplying compressors, electrolysers and integrated solutions across the hydrogen value chain. Rheinisches Revier is not planning its hydrogen future - it is building it.

For Dutch companies and international investors, this is a concrete, near-term opportunity - on your doorstep.

On the 20th of May, on the sidelines of the World Hydrogen Summit 2026, the Dutch-German Chamber of Commerce (DNHK) brings together the people shaping this transition: policymakers, project developers, and entrepreneurs already operating on the ground.

Find out more from Germany Trade & Invest about the national hydrogen strategy, from NRW.Global Business about what Rheinisches Revier specifically has to offer, and from VoltH2 and NEUMAN & ESSER about what setting up and scaling a hydrogen business in Germany’s industrial heartland actually entails.

This is a working session - compact, high-level, and designed for decision-makers.