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On 11 September 2025, the NEFI Technology Talk with a plant tour, titled “Hydrogen in Industry in Practice”, took place at Innio Jenbacher in Tyrol. In Jenbach, hydrogen-powered combined heat and power plants are being implemented as a showcase project for a CO₂-neutral energy supply in an industrial facility.

The ADC Pilot Factory project explores a new paradigm for industrial energy supply by introducing flexible and scalable direct current (DC) grids in manufacturing. At the core of this innovation is the use of electric vehicle (EV) fleets as modular, bi-directional storage systems, transforming them into active components of industrial energy management.

On June 11^th, 2025, the consortium of the NEFI project envIoTcast invited participants to Braunau am Inn for a demonstration of the project’s results. Attendees were given fascinating insights on site into the progress towards the Green Foundry 4.0.
Following the opening session at LKR Ranshofen, the programme continued at the Demo Factory, where a live casting show vividly illustrated how modern foundry technologies – from an AR simulator and preheating furnace to an automated die-casting system – are working together to enhance energy efficiency and sustainability.

Green hydrogen is considered one of the key technologies for the transformation of energy-intensive industries. At the heart of the NEFI Technology Talk, hosted by NEFI consortium partner OÖ Energiesparverband on June 17^th, 2025 in Linz, was the question of the technical and economic conditions under which manufacturing companies can use hydrogen today and in the future. Around 60 participants attended the Technology Talk. The event offered numerous opportunities for professional exchange. The audience posed targeted questions on the presentations and engaged in discussion with the experts.

Significant progress in energy efficiency, electrification and the expansion of renewable energy is bringing climate targets within reach. However, this transformation alone is not enough to achieve true climate neutrality: viable solutions are also needed for those emissions that are technologically or economically difficult – or even impossible – to avoid, particularly in energy-intensive industrial processes. At the NEFI Technology Talk on April 3^rd, 2025 in Linz, the focus was on Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) – a topic of growing importance in industrial transformation.

We need more energy in the future but less CO₂. Direct current aims to make both possible.

By 2030, global energy demand will increase by 30%. The challenge lies in meeting this growing demand without burning fossil fuels, says Hartwig Stemmberger, Manager at Eaton Technologies, during the NEFI (New Energy for Industry) conference in Vienna. However, existing energy grids are already reaching their limits, and expansion projects in Europe often take decades. For him, a viable approach is the expansion of DC in industry.