Delegation Trip to NRW: Strong Interest from German Industry In Our 2026 Companies

26-28 May 2026, we spent successful and intense days in North Rhine-Westphalia with our SGCP companies. NRW is Germany’s largest federal state and a key region for the German industry. It was evident that the need for state-of-the-art climate technology is high to meet energy saving goals and sustain a competitive industry pressured by high energy prizes.

We started at the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy (MWIKE), where the delegation received a comprehensive introduction to the region’s climate and heat strategy, as well as current political priorities linked to the energy transition. Together with NRW.Energy4Climate, participants gained deeper insights directly from expert on circular economy, wind energy, energy storage and flexibility, the NRW hydrogen initiative as well as for energy strategies, energy economics, and energy-intensive industry. This provided an overview of regulatory frameworks, ongoing initiatives, and concrete market needs in the region.

The schedule was also fully packed with B2B meetings. These took us well beyond the cities and into more rural areas for concrete, business-focused on-site meetings with potential customers. The discussions were in-depth and led to several promising follow up discussions and pilot project opportunities. For the participating companies, these meetings created valuable connections with key stakeholders and first-hand exposure to customer needs.

The program finished strong in Düsseldorf with our Swedish-German Cleantech Afterwork. During the session, our SGCP alumni Emulate Energy shared their experiences and key learnings from successfully entering the German market. The evening continued with networking that fostered meaningful conversations and newly formed partnerships.

The delegation confirmed the strong demand for innovative cleantech solutions driven by Germany’s energy transition. It also showed that personal meetings with the right regional stakeholders are key to successful market entry. By combining policy insights, targeted B2B meetings, and networking, we managed to create value for all stakeholders involved, together!

The visit to North Rhine-Westphalia marks an important step in the companies’ international expansion journey, with further activities planned for the autumn to strengthen their position on the German market. We will be back in October 2026!

Contact

Christiane Binsteiner Foberg, German-Swedish Chamber of Commerce
christiane.binsteiner@handelskammer.se

Links

NRW.Energy4Climate at energy4climate.nrw
Ministry for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy (MWIKE) at wirtschaft.nrw/en
Emulate at emulate.energy