“We provide an innovative climate”

Innovation Management, the new group function, guides, interlinks and brings together all innovation matters at MAN ES. Head of Department Harald Stricker and his colleague Thomas Polklas talk about self-image, opportunities and trends.

MAN People: Harald Stricker, in what way is the new group function beneficial for MAN ES? 
Harald Stricker: Against the backdrop of scarce human and financial resources in particular, comprehensive optimization is becoming increasingly important. We aspire to interlink SBUs, sites and employees, breaking down silos and facilitating know-how transfer. We want to generate added value for our innovators and future makers by providing an innovative climate in which profitable ideas can blossom with little effort. In addition, we also identify technology trends, assign them and help innovations to make the commercial breakthrough, of course.  

What technology is Innovation Management turning the spotlight on first?
Harald Stricker: We are already working on development pro­jects aimed at converting our engines and gas turbines to run on pure hydrogen. We are also in pole position with our Power-to-X technology. It is a complex area, however, and we have to look at entire value chains: how are we going to produce, transport and store green hydrogen? Hydrogen offers lots of opportunities, touches on all MAN ES’s areas of business and will play a key role in the decarbonization of many industries, including steel, chemicals and cement. Many employees are working intently on these issues and developing ideas for solutions. To avoid overlaps, dovetail activities better and ultimately draw up a common H₂ roadmap, we have set up the Functional Competence Center Hydrogen (FCC H₂).

Thomas Polklas, funding is your area of expertise. How important are grant opportunities and cooperation seen as being?
Thomas Polklas: Many people are unaware of the wide variety of grant opportunities. Although funding is frequently crucial in determining whether an innovation can be pursued or implemented, the possibilities are far from being exhausted in our company. There is a broad range of development funds, and a hydrogen testbed might benefit, for example. Funding combined with our strong cooperation and knowledge network enables us to save resources, freeing them up for other purposes. Partnerships with universities and research institutes in particular help us to view ideas from different perspectives.

Although our corporate strategy is proving increasingly successful, our new solutions are not yet in the field. Are our innovations slowed down?
Harald Stricker: To some extent, yes. We have developed lots of innovative solutions for storing renewable energies and cogenerating power and heat that are urgently required for the energy transition. Owing to fiscal factors, however, even the most efficient energy storage systems don’t currently pay. Viewed in this light, the energy transition is more of a political problem than a technical challenge. The National Hydrogen Strategy adopted by the German government and, at the European level, the EU hydrogen strategy published at the beginning of July are big steps in the right direction.