Two promising projects in the Rheinische Revier area make the region a pioneer in the fields of digitalization and future technologies – they are exemplary for the structural change in the region:
According to current plans by the NRW state government, the former Frimmersdorf coal-fired power plant is to be developed into a digital and innovation location. The power plant's former machine hall will play a central role in this. The state enterprise IT.NRW will build a new data center there on more than 20,000 square meters. In addition, an innovation and education campus for IT security in public administration is to be constructed on the site. The development of the site is regarded as a future project for structural change in the Rheinische Revier area.
The Brainergy Park Jülich is also providing important stimuli for hydrogen. The Helmholtz Cluster for Sustainable and Infrastructure-Compatible Hydrogen Economy (HC-H2) has established itself in the industrial park in the heart of the Rhineland mining region and is developing into the center of German hydrogen research. Last year, HC-H2 moved into a 1,100-square-meter building on the site where the institute's researchers design, build and test innovative hydrogen technologies. Three additional halls and an P1 laboratory are currently being built for the cluster.