Hannover Messe 2022: German Industrial Trade Fair Plans Focus on Industrial Transformation and Partner Country Portugal

Summary

The March 16, 2022, Hannover Fair preview discussed lead theme of “Industrial Transformation” and the partner country Portugal. Dr. Jochen Köckler, CEO of Deutsche Messe opened, noting, “In January when we postponed Hannover Messe, many people were longing for normalcy thinking we would return to normalcy and today with the condemnable war in Ukraine, we have another crisis, we return to a new crisis mode. The topics of Hannover Messe will be fine-tuned since in the last three weeks we are at a turning point with rising energy prices and other new issues. In view of the current global political situation, the topics at Hannover Messe are more relevant than ever. At the heart of the matter is how we can ensure security of supply and growth in a dynamically changing world politically, environmentally, and economically while counteracting climate change. Innovative technologies will play a key role.”

After a two-year “coronavirus break,” Hannover Messe again provides an international stage for economic policy discourse. Dr. Köckler noted, “At the end of May, the global industrial community will be looking to Hannover. This year in particular, Hannover Messe 2022 can send economic policy signals and build bridges.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa will jointly open Hannover Messe. Other political dignitaries include Frans Timmermans, vice president of the European Commission, and Bettina Stark-Watzinger, German federal minister of education and research.
 
The event will feature some 2,500 companies demonstrating their technologies for factories and energy systems of the future under the lead theme of “Industrial Transformation,” demonstrating how connected production facilities can operate more efficiently and conserve resources as well as how to generate and transmit energy sustainably.
 
In addition to the exhibits at the show, attendees can look forward to a first-rate supporting program. The four conference stages cover topics including:

• Automation and digital platforms
• Cloud and computing infrastructure
• Analytics, artificial intelligence, and data management
• Robotics
• Cybersecurity
• Renewable energies, green hydrogen, energy-efficiency and CO₂-neutral production.

The complete program will be available to visitors on-site and streamed simultaneously via the Hannover Messe website.
 
Exhibiting companies include Siemens, Bosch, Schneider Electric, Schaeffler, Microsoft, SAP, and Service Now, joined by numerous medium-sized industrial enterprises such as Beckhoff, Festo, Harting, Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact, Wago, and Ziehl-Abegg. Accompanying them are major research institutes like Fraunhofer and Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) as well as roughly 100 startups that find Hannover Messe an ideal platform for networking with industry.
 

The importance of renewable energy

Dr. Jochen Köckler discussed the importance of CO₂-neutral production and energy security in Europe with renewable energies and green hydrogen playing key roles, “We have offered the largest European platform for the hydrogen and fuel-cell industry for years.” Hannover Messe will feature, more than 200 companies including Iberdrola, Saint Gobain, Emerson, ElringKlinger, Plug Power, Siemens, Phoenix Contact, Enapter, Bosch, Hexagon Purus, Nel Hydrogen, Hydrogenious, and GP Joule displaying solutions for a sustainable energy supply based on hydrogen derived from renewable energy sources. An example will be Bosch featuring an exhibit about the company’s hydrogen cycle at its Industrie 4.0 facility that produces green hydrogen for industrial processes.
 

Climate change

Hannover Messe exhibitors will be displaying the necessary technologies the support the goal of becoming climate-neutral by the middle of the millennium. Dr. Jochen Köckler notes, “To get to this objective, we need to apply digitalization, automation, and artificial intelligence [AI] and other Industry 4.0 technologies Hannover Messe has been showcasing for more than 10 years starting with the discussion of cyber physical integrated factories.”
 
The production of virtually all goods can be made more resource-conserving and energy-efficient with the help of state-of-the-art machinery and equipment. In addition, solutions from mechanical and plant engineering, electrical engineering, and the software and information technology (IT) industries can also vastly improve the control processes of complex systems, thus boosting innovation and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions around the world.

Partner country Portugal

Franciso Ribeiro de Menezes, Portugal’s Ambassador in Berlin described Hannover Messe 2022 participation, “with confidence in a forward-looking manner under the theme ‘Portugal Makes Sense.’” He cited many reasons including the country’s stability, role it plays in Europe, and Atlantic ports. The country is ninth place in the “Global Country Index” and has a goal to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
 
Menezes discussed how Portugal, with almost nine centuries of history, is a sophisticated and forward-looking country where sustainability is a priority and an industry concern. Thirty-two percent of Portuguese exports are metalworks, machinery, tooling, and transportation equipment. The country has the third highest rate of engineering graduates in Europe.