Top Investments of the Year 2021 – North Rhine-Westphalia| NRW

December 2021

North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany’s No. 1 investment location. Around 20,000 foreign companies have already invested here and control their German or European activities from North Rhine-Westphalia. The state maintains a consistently high level of foreign direct investments – a few highlights to be named here:

Enapter – game-changing green hydrogen generating technology

Enapter, the hydrogen technology specialist with origin in Thailand, is currently building a mass production facility for highly efficient hydrogen generators in Saerbeck. The vision: Enapter wants to reduce costs to position hydrogen competitively in the market in order to replace fossil fuels with green hydrogen. For this purpose, the company invests 100 million euros in its “Enapter Campus”, where in future modular systems for the production of green hydrogen will be manufactured and refined using a special anion exchange membrane technology. More than 10,000 electrolyzer units per year are to be produced there from 2023. Not only has Enapter been awarded with the NRW.Global Business AWARD for this investment, but recently received the renowned Earthshot Prize, established by HRH Prince William and the Royal Foundation, in the category “Fix our Climate”.

Marelli – solutions for the future of mobility

Marelli, one of the world’s leading independent automotive suppliers, established a new production facility for electric vehicle drives on the Ford factory premises in Cologne in late 2020. At the high-end production line on an area of 18,000 square meters, the company produces 800-volt electric motors for vehicle manufacturers in Germany. Space for future expansion has already been planned. In the first step, Marelli is creating 160 new jobs in Cologne. Moreover, the company is collaborating closely with RWTH Aachen University researching solutions for the electrification of vehicles and related production technologies. The Marelli group was formed in 2019 from the merger of the Japanese company Calsonic Kansei and the Italian company Magneti Marelli, the latter being the world’s first manufacturer of high-performance motors for e-vehicles in large number.

Xiaomi – high-end technology for the European market

Chinese technology giant Xiaomi launched its first German sales office in Düsseldorf in 2019. Since then, the company, which is one of the largest manufacturers of smartphones and smart home devices in the world, has grown here significantly: Xiaomi established its German headquarters in North Rhine-Westphalia’s state capital in late 2020 and plans to also move its European headquarters to Düsseldorf. Thanks to the infrastructure and the perfect interaction of relevant business partners, the location is extremely attractive for Asian companies. Germany’s first two Xiaomi flagship stores – the so-called “MiStores” – were opened in Düsseldorf and Cologne later in 2021 attracting numerous “MiFans” to the opening events with special offers. Today, Xiaomi continually ranks among most popular smartphone brands in Europe.