Our Director Luigi Crema, Vice-President of H2IT and President of Hydrogen Europe Research, gave an interview to Il Giornale d’Italia on the occasion of the HYDROGEN EXPO in Piacenza, held from 9 to 11 June, in which he spoke about the hydrogen market in Italy and Europe.
Could you compare Italy with the rest of Europe?
“Over the past few years, Europe has established a framework for the development of the European hydrogen sector; Italy is one of the key players in this European context and is implementing this framework through a number of major initiatives, including the development of Hydrogen Valleys. Italy is home to one of Europe’s largest Hydrogen Valleys, the Nord Adriatic Hydrogen Valley, an initiative involving the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, Slovenia and Croatia, with a total project value – including investments and funding – exceeding €600 million.
A second topic is the link between the research and university sector and the world of industry. In this regard, Italy is working to bring these two worlds closer together through new research infrastructure. One-stop-shop laboratories could be set up, bringing together researchers and innovators, but operating with a more industrial approach and methodology.
Another topic is the activation of the market in large-scale projects, for example those within the IPCEI Hydrogen projects, where Italy has initiatives ranging up to and beyond 600 megawatts of hydrogen production sites, particularly those in the Puglia region, which will create an important market base.
Finally, Italy is participating in one of the most important European hydrogen infrastructure projects: the southern corridor of the European hydrogen backbone. This corridor is expected, when fully operational, to transport 4 million tonnes of hydrogen produced both in Italy and at sites in North Africa – specifically Algeria and Tunisia – to markets in Italy as well as in Central European countries such as Austria and Germany.”
The article / interview is in Italian