The latest neighbourhood meeting at Brainergy Park took us back to the very beginning. A few years ago, there wasn’t much going on on the site, which used to be known nationwide and visible from afar with its enormous Deutsche Welle transmission masts. Once they were gone, not much was visible. A Jülich researcher once even described the area as the ‘biggest dog playground in the city’.
Today, much has changed, even though the project is still in its early stages and many of the major developments are yet to come. ‘We are very pleased that so many things are already taking shape,’ said Thomas Schmitz, who is responsible for developing the innovative commercial site at Brainergy Park GmbH alongside Markus Bambynek. ‘But there is much more going on behind the scenes,’ he hinted at HC-H2 Brainergy Park Connect, suggesting that further plans will lead to construction activities and new jobs in the future.
Connect is a working lunch organised by the Helmholtz Cluster Hydrogen for residents of the park and
those who want to become residents. There is enough space, Schmitz and Bambynek reported. Not more necessarily on the areas designated in the first stage. The park currently covers a total of 52 hectares. ‘60 per cent of it has been sold or already built on,’ reported Markus Bambynek.
“30 per cent are reserved, ten are still free.” The current plan can be seen in the diagram. The new Hans Lamers Bau GmbH building is very far along, as is Synhelion Germany GmbH directly next to it in the north. Construction preparations have begun for the Quanta Computer branch. Among other things. The company plans to produce high-precision electronic systems and devices for renowned OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and vehicle manufacturers, particularly in the field of autonomous driving, at Brainergy Park Jülich.
We need more space
So more space is needed. Medium- and long-term solutions are planned for this. Six hectares are to be added to the west, directly adjacent to the current site. The planning process for this has begun. In the long term, the park is to be expanded northwards towards the B55 federal highway. Around 150 hectares have been earmarked for this in the revised version of the Regional Plan 2025. The Regional Plan sets out the areas that may be developed, those that can be used for agriculture and those where nature has priority.
If you have big plans, you need a lot of space. According to Thomas Schmitz, around 175 people were working in the park in the spring, when the latest survey was conducted. In the long term, the figure is expected to rise to 5,000. The next milestone in the park has just been reached: this week saw the ground-breaking ceremony for the new Brainergy Hub, the central building in the park. Among other things, the highly scaled-up version of what has already begun in the well-advanced Startup Village will be located here. Young companies that have been founded will find more space here to continue growing. Among other things. In principle, the hub and the park are open to all companies that are committed to sustainability and innovation. The building complex is scheduled for completion in 2026.
The park will also gain a second foothold in the rural community of Titz. Brainergy Park Jülich GmbH is responding to demand from the skilled trades sector with this move. Brainergy Craft is the name of the industrial park that is to be built on an 11.4-hectare site near Rödingen-Höllen.
Batteries as part of the storage solution
Arkadiusz Lis also wants to grow with his young company NOW-3. The team, which currently consists of six people, is now also based in the Startup Village. Batteries are their focus. Large batteries the size of a shipping container that can deliver between 500 and 5300 kilowatt hours. ‘We will be adding a lot more renewable energy, which means we will have more and more periods when we produce surpluses. Where do we put it all?’ he asked rhetorically.
Of course, don’t leave it unused; store the short-term surpluses in large batteries. This complements well the idea of securing large quantities with hydrogen in the long term.
Several years of development have gone into the battery containers, as Lis reported. Some of the systems have been tested in countries in the Global South, where they could also be used. ‘Photovoltaics and large batteries also make it possible to operate systems where there is no power grid.’ According to Lis, NOW-3 is currently focusing on building a team at Brainergy Park ‘that can install, maintain and recycle batteries,’ as he described.
