On 27th November 2024, the AER Working Group on Green Hydrogen hosted a webinar on Green Hydrogen Ecosystems featuring regional examples and an update on EU support to green hydrogen development in the regions.
This objective was to promote shared learning among regions involved or interested in developing green hydrogen ecosystems.
Green hydrogen ecosystems are integrated networks that cover the production, storage, distribution, and use of hydrogen generated from renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. They bring together diverse technologies, infrastructure, and stakeholders to establish a sustainable, carbon-free energy system.
The webinar was facilitated by Albert Ballbé, Programme Manager at the General Directorate of Industry at the Government of Catalonia, currently chairing the working group. He spoke about the two-year journey at the head of the working group and how the Catalan government has been focused on the development of green hydrogen for the mobility sector, among others.
The Clean Hydrogen Partnership: Hydrogen Valleys and project development assistance
Mirela Atanasiu, Head of Unit Operations and Communications of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership gave an update on the work with regions, Hydrogen Valleys and Project Development Assistance (see her presentation). She highlighted the importance of having regional authorities involved in the development of hydrogen projects, because of their role in facilitating multistakeholder collaborations and citizens participation. The concept of Hydrogen Valleys is indeed to bring actors within a close area together and develop regional hydrogen ecosystems.
The Project Development Assistance (PDA) is a particularly interesting support system created to help regions in the development of quality proposals to get access to financial support from the European Union. Many ideas indeed are promising but need careful planning and development to reach their full potential. The Project Development Assistance was typically used by the Košice region, which now features a Hydrogen Valley and benefits from support from the EU.
The experience of the Košice region
Katarína Sasaráková, who is a Project manager at the Košice Department of regional development then presented the experience of Košice in developing their green hydrogen ecosystem (see her presentation) where they carry out different activities, such as the creation of the H2 valley in the region (EastGateH2V) or the Central European Hydrogen Corridor (CEHC) where they partner with border areas from Germany and Czechia through all the way to Ukraine. Cooperation and engaging with good partnerships are an essential key to success.
Albert Ballbé and Katarína Sasaráková then exchanged about the barriers the region faced in the setting-up of the green hydrogen ecosystem. These included the need to update legislation. Indeed while there is a national hydrogen political strategy, an updated legislation with a regulatory framework is needed. This involves for example updating how hydrogen is classified, as a chemical or a fuel, to simplify the setting up of hydrogen production plants and the related permissions.
Airports and hydrogen technologies
Xavier Gómez, Project Manager at Aeroports de la Generalitat de Catalunya, then shared a concrete use case of hydrogen technologies. He presented the use of hydrogen technologies at the Lleida-Alguaire Airport project (see his presentation). The project aims to establish a test site in a real airport environment to promote green hydrogen, fuel cell technologies, and advanced energy solutions for aviation, UAVs, and space industries. It focuses on decarbonizing airport operations and supporting the development of locally produced green hydrogen. With this, the initiative will help to achieve climate neutrality in aviation by 2050, making the airport a net-zero emissions facility while testing scalable solutions.
He also highlighted that it creates a unique “green fuel sandbox” for research and offers potential passive income for unused and low-populated land.
Gómez then exposed some current projects they have under development, such as aeroH2ub, H2ELIOS and H2ILD. Different projects developed by different consortium of private companies in collaboration with the regional airport and financed by European funds and other aids.
In terms of barriers, these involve the absence of specific regulations on regional airports and the difficulty to find stakeholders to invest and to expand because the demand for hydrogen technologies and use has yet to increase.
As a summary, the webinar aimed to promote knowledge transfer between the regions based on the experience of the participants, as well as the possibility to open new doors of collaboration or explore new avenues for development and funding.
All presentations are available on the event webpage.
About the Working Group on Green Hydrogen
The proposal for this working group was submitted by Catalonia, supported by Burgenland (AU), Lower Austria (AU), Valle D’Aosta (IT), Flevoland (NL), Maramures (RO), Värmland (SE), Västra Götaland (SE), Fribourg (CH), and Denizli (TR).
The group addresses the crucial transition to renewable hydrogen, a pressing concern given that hydrogen currently makes up less than 2% of Europe’s energy mix and is predominantly produced from fossil fuels. The transition to clean hydrogen from renewable sources like wind and solar is essential but expensive. Regions play a key role in scaling up the renewable hydrogen economy, as noted by the Committee of the Regions in 2020, highlighting green hydrogen’s potential to promote regional and local development.
This group focuses on key topics such as
- the hydrogen value chain
- decarbonisation of transport and industry
- green hydrogen production
- the development of Hydrogen Valleys.
The working group currently includes 17 regions: Catalonia (ES), Abruzzo (IT), Vale d’Aosta (IT), Västra Götaland (SE), Värmland (SE), Kosice Self-governing Region (SK), Lower Austria (AT), Burgenland (AT), Mayo (IE), Donegal (IE), Grand Est (FR), Fribourg (CH), Denizli (TR), Gaziantep (TR), Adana (TR), Flevoland (NL), and Maramures (RO).
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This article was written by Ana Isabel Méndez López who is doing an internship on Policy & Knowledge Transfer at the AER Secretariat from November 2024 to March 2025.
Photos by Karsten Würth (1st) and Josue Isai Ramos Figueroa (2nd) on Unsplash.
