Brussels signs agreement to accelerate development of the hydrogen industry

The European Commission has signed this Wednesday a declaration with the European hydrogen industry, the scientific community and the European regions to intensify and accelerate joint actions in the field of research, development, demonstration and deployment of hydrogen valleys, ecosystems where companies coexist and professionals interested in promoting this technology.

These plants connect hydrogen production, transportation and a number of cutting-edge applications creating fully functional and sustainable supply and demand pools, driving the deployment of renewable hydrogen and consequently the transition to clean energy.

All this, in line with the EU Hydrogen Strategy and contributing to the objectives of the plans to promote the ecological transition, stop depending on Russian fossil fuels and encourage clean industries.

The joint statement also calls for sustained investments, strengthening synergies between funding sources, sharing knowledge, stimulating education development and skills training, and creating regional hydrogen networks and interconnections between hydrogen valleys.

The Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, highlighted that hydrogen valleys are “key” to the creation of a European research and innovation area and hopes to “quickly reach the goal of doubling the number of operational Hydrogen Valleys by 2025″.

Brussels invests in the hydrogen economy

The EU framework program for research and innovation, Horizon Europe, supports the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (CHJU) with 1,000 million euros, to which are added many others from industry and research partners.

In addition, as part of ‘REPowerEU, the Commission has allocated an additional €200 million to the CHJU to accelerate the deployment of hydrogen valleys and has recently awarded some €4 million under Erasmus+ for a long-term partnership between industry and education aimed at developing advanced skills for the hydrogen economy.

Other EU programs also offer investment opportunities in hydrogen valleys, such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility, cohesion policy funds under the relevant smart specialization priorities and the Connecting Europe Facility.

Source: dpa

(Reference image source: Guillaume Perigois / IUMP, Europa Press)

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