EC, stakeholders sign declaration on hydrogen valleys

The European Commission (EC) and several stakeholders on Wednesday signed a joint declaration committing to accelerate research and development of Hydrogen Valleys that advance the hydrogen economy by forming clusters of supply and demand.

The declaration was signed by the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel, Hydrogen Europe chief executive Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Hydrogen Europe Research president Luigi Crema and S3 European Hydrogen Valleys Partnership co-leader Tjisse Stelpstra at an event hosted by the Commission in Brussels that brought together more than 300 stakeholders in the EU hydrogen community.

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The document, Joint Declaration on Hydrogen Valleys - Moving the hydrogen economy from niche to scale, seeks to encourage continuous investment in research and innovation and promote synergies between funding resources, knowledge sharing and skills training. It also calls for the development of regional hydrogen networks and interconnections among Hydrogen Valleys.

The Commission will present its roadmap on Hydrogen Valleys in May.

Through the Horizon Europe programme, the EU invests EUR 1 billion (USD 1.06bn) in the Clean Hydrogen Partnership for innovation and research. As part of REPowerEU, the Commission has allocated a further EUR 200 million to the Clean Hydrogen Partnership to speed up the rollout of Hydrogen Valleys.

The Clean Hydrogen Partnership recently announced EUR 105.4 million in funding for nine hydrogen valley projects.

“Hydrogen Valleys are key for the creation of a European research and innovation area for hydrogen,” stated Mariya Gabriel. She added that the EU “will rapidly hit the target of doubling the number of operational Hydrogen Valleys by 2025.”

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.061)