“We, undersigned stakeholders, hereby join efforts to support and accelerate the research, development, demonstration and deployment of Hydrogen Valleys and the related infrastructure […] to achieve the targets set in the European Hydrogen Strategy and REPowerEU and pave the way towards a climate-neutral, circular, competitive, and energy-secure economy in Europe.”
This sentence concludes the Joint Declaration on Hydrogen Valleys signed on 1 March 2023 by the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel (on behalf of the European Commission), the CEO ofHydrogen Europe Jorgo Chatzimarkakis,the President of Hydrogen Europe Research Luigi Crema and the co-leader ofS3 European Hydrogen Valleys Partnership Tjisse Stelpstra.
The document entitled “Moving the hydrogen economy from niche to scale” strengthens the EU strategy on hydrogen adopted by the EU Commission in 2020, and indicates the commitment of the European hydrogen industry, the scientific community, and European regions, together with the European Commission, to collaborate in:
- Reinforcing the research and innovation agenda for clean hydrogen by providing a strategic framework aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of Hydrogen Valleys,
- Encouraging continued investments in research and innovation for clean hydrogen technologies including via the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking under Horizon Europe,
- Maximising funding impact by working together to strengthen synergies,
- Promoting knowledge sharing and partner matchmaking to build on the existing experience and accelerate successful development of new projects,
- Stimulating the development of education and training for skills, building on the existing initiatives across the EU, and
- Spearheading the development of Hydrogen Valleys as steppingstones to incubate and grow a European – and by extension global – hydrogen economy.
The ceremony took place in Brussels, at the Autoworld Museum, during “Repowering EU with Hydrogen Valleys: showcasing innovative solutions”, an high-level event that gathered more than 300 stakeholders from the hydrogen community to show support for the EU research and innovation for a clean energy transition and end dependence on Russian fossil fuels.
As reported in the EU article “Hydrogen Valleys strategic for the autonomy of the EU” the Commissioner Mariya Gabriel stated that “Renewable hydrogen plays a strategic role for our autonomy and we have to accelerate our path to foster a new growth. It is the momentum to move our renewable hydrogen economy from niche to scale”.
On Hydrogen Valleys, Luigi Crema – President of Hydrogen Europe Research and Director of the Center for Sustainable Energy of FBK, said: “The European research community directly supports Hydrogen Valleys by helping their replication and their technological improvement (notably through digitalisation and hybridisation with energy communities). We also ensure that lessons learned are transferred, we support the training of the future hydrogen workforce, and we engage with European citizens”.
Read the article on the EU Commission website: https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-research-and-innovation-news/hydrogen-valleys-strategic-autonomy-eu-2023-03-01_en