Stade Technology Centre

Ground-breaking ceremony for the Stade Technology Centre

The ground-breaking ceremony for the Stade Technology Centre took place on Thursday, 30 January 2003. The Minister of Economy, Technology, and Transportation of the Federal State of Lower Saxony, Dr. Susanne Knorre, came to Stade to celebrate the start of the project’s construction, which is important to Stade’s regional economy and more.

In her greeting, Dr. Knorre indicated the tasks if the new competence centre: “ In the Stade Technology Centre, new processes and products will be developed in the field of fibrous composites, which have diverse possible uses in aircraft construction, sea travel, vehicle construction, in the automobile industry, and several other sectors. This means new chances for creating future-oriented jobs for the Federal State of Lower Saxony and its economy.”

At the ceremony, Dr. Knorre was accompanied by Mayor Hans-Hermann Ott and City Manager Dirk Hattendorff as well as Thomas Friedrichs and Christian Lübbers, the construction business directors.

In his greeting, Mayor Ott emphasized that a new chapter of Stade’s history had started: “Here a development centre is being built in close co-operation between town and region, companies and research facilities.”

“This is good news considering the upcoming shutdown of the nuclear power plant and the closing of the salt works in summer. Current opportunities in aircraft construction as well as the potential of fibrous composites will benefit the centre’s work. The technology centre is a major cornerstone of Stade’s economic and infrastructure policy. With it the seeds for new jobs are being planted. There are around 15 hectares of commercial and industrial zones ready for construction for when development goes into production.”

Mayor Ott thanked Dr. Knorre, who significantly contributed to the project. “The technology centre would not have been possible without the support of Lower Saxony.”

Dr. Axel S. Herrmann, business director of CTC GmbH, clarified the objectives behind building the technology centre in Stade:

International technological leadership in lightweight construction with carbon-fibre reinforced polymers
Formation of the “CFRP Lightweight Construction” competence centre
Formation of a network by the settlement of worldwide leading supply and development companies in “CFRP Valley Stade”
Development of innovative production technology for fibrous composite large-scale structures as a service provider in the sectors of aircraft construction, marine craft construction, rail vehicle construction, truck and passenger car construction, and mechanical engineering

The technology centre is being built by Stade Projektentwicklung GmbH & Co. KG. This company was founded by the city in December 2002. Business management is being assumed via the Stadt Stade Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH by the Promoter of Economic Development of the City of Stade, Thomas Friedrichs and the Director of the Municipal Planning and Construction Office, Christian Lübbers.

The current estimate of total costs of construction of the technology centre amounts to around 8,800,000 Euros. The Federal State of Lower Saxony supports the construction with a subsidy of 4,000,000 Euros. A working group consisting of the Thalen Consult GmbH architects from Neuenburg and the SHI Planungsgesellschaft mbH from Oldenburg are commissioned for project planning and construction plan management.

The centre is planned to be completed in early in the summer of 2004 after a construction period of 12 months. The technology centre will then include a development hall with around 2,500 square metres and an office building with around 1,500 square metres.

One of the largest leasers will be CTC GmbH. The company Hexcel Composites, an American company, and the company Saetex, which in December 2002 began production of parts for the Airbus A380 in Stade, will also be represented here. Negotiations with other companies are in progress.

Research institutes have also indicated interest in co-operation with the technology centre. The Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Centre of Air and Space Travel), the Institut für Strukturmechanik (Institute of Structural Mechanics) from Braunschweig and the Fraunhofer-Institut für Fertigungstechnik und angewandte Materialforschung (Frauenhofer Institute of Production Technology and Applied Materials Research) from Bremen will be represented in Stade.

Several projects are already in the works. There are also plans to intensify training measures in the CFRP lightweight construction sector. Moreover there are further interested companies with which the City of Stade has close relations.

Further information from the Agency for the Promotion of Economic Development