Dear colleagues, dear friends of Hydrogen Europe Research,
September was again a month rich in announcements, with hydrogen remaining high on the agenda to overcome the current difficult economic, energetic and environmental challenges.
In her 3rd State of the Union address, President Ursula von der Leyen stated that "Hydrogen can change the situation completely in Europe. We have to move from a niche market to a mass market for hydrogen”. In line with the REPowerEU communication, the European Parliament as voted in a plenary session to commit to ambitious binding renewable targets and to simplify the regulatory framework. Whereas some amendments remove constraints that would have hindered the development of renewable hydrogen in Europe, there are some aspects that Hydrogen Europe Research is more concerned about as the risks for industry and research induced by loosening the hourly temporal correlation between the renewable electricity generated and the electricity used to power an electrolyser and the non-equity between hydrogen imported and hydrogen produced within Europe. Hydrogen Europe Research has been selected to be part of the European Electrolyser partnership aiming at facilitating a European electrolyser manufacturing industry and maintaining Europe’s technological leadership in electrolysers.
Again, many applications for the Young Scientists awards have been received. Many thanks to all of you, the competition will be intense but it shows how dynamic and engaged are our young researchers.
Looking forward to meeting many of you at our next General Assembly on 25 October or during the European Hydrogen Week in Brussels,
Kind regards,
Laurent Antoni
President, Hydrogen Europe Research
HYDROGEN EUROPE RESEARCH NEWS AND ACTIVITIES
European Hydrogen Week and Hydrogen Europe Flagship Event & Expo, 24-28 October 2022
The European Hydrogen Week will take place from the 24th to 28th of October, and will gather the stakeholders of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership (European Commission, Hydrogen Europe Research, Hydrogen Europe).
The week will include:
- Hydrogen Europe Research General Assembly (October 25, from 11:00 to 15:30 at Brussels Expo and online): the private event is dedicated to Hydrogen Europe Research Members only. Our members are welcome to join us for a very successful meeting!
- Clean Hydrogen JU Research Day (October 26): the event will be focused on Research and Innovation activities in the EU under the lead of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, and will end with the Hydrogen Europe Research Young Scientist Award 2022 ceremony;
- Programme Review Days (October 27-28): following the tradition of the past 10+ years, this event will showcase more than 60 projects currently ongoing under the Clean Hydrogen Partnership. The selected projects and initiatives will have the opportunity to present their progress, and exchange ideas and best practices on the latest technological developments in the sector.
- Hydrogen Europe Flagship Event, (October 25-27): the event will bring industry, institution, and academia leaders together. The event will have an exhibition area as well as two conference streams. Hydrogen Europe Research will participate in the Hydrogen Europe Flagship Event as an exhibitor with its own, branded pavilion: our members will have the opportunity to have their own stands in the HER pavilion, showcase their activities and projects, and network with other hydrogen stakeholders. Come and meet our members!
A novelty this year will be the organisation of side events across Europe to make the Hydrogen Week truly European. Local and regional authorities, municipalities, public and private entities are encouraged to share ideas and latest developments within the Hydrogen Community during the entire month of October 2022. These side events can be in the form of workshops, panel discussions, info sessions… More information can be found here.
Hydrogen Europe Research Young Scientist Award 2022 – update
The Young Scientist Award is an annual competition organised by Hydrogen Europe Research and conducted during the Hydrogen Week (26-28 October 2022). It aims at rewarding young researchers (under 35 years old of age) belonging to our member organisations, who have personally contributed to hydrogen-related project(s). This year, the application revolved around four pillars, reflecting the structure of the new Clean Hydrogen Partnership. One young scientist will be awarded in each pillar, and one will be elected “Best Scientific Researcher of the Year”.
We wish to thank the young researchers who took the time to apply and participate in our yearly competitions! The applications are currently being reviewed by Hydrogen Europe Research Executive Board; the winners will be notified next week.
The award ceremony will take place in person in Brussels, at Brussels Expo, during the Hydrogen Week 2022, on October 26.
Clean Hydrogen Alliance – Electrolyser Partnership
Hydrogen Europe Research is happy to have been selected to participate in the new Electrolyser Partnership of the Clean Hydrogen Alliance, and is looking forward to collaborating with the other selected participants!
The objective of this partnership is to support the increase of the manufacturing capacity of electrolysers in Europe ten-fold by 2025, as stated in the May 5 Joint Declaration signed by 20 European electrolyser manufacturers and the European Commission.
CLEAN HYDROGEN PARTNERSHIP UPDATES
2022 Call for proposals
The second deadline of the 2022 Annual Work Plan has recently passed (20th of September). In total, 74 proposals were received for 14 topics. Evaluations will now take place over the course of the coming months. Successful applicants will be contacted once the process is complete.
Following the evaluations of the proposals received for the first deadline of the 2022 Annual Work Plan, successful consortia have been contacted to establish the grant agreements. Should you have any questions on the grant agreement procedure, you can reach out to the Programme Office (projects@clean-hydrogen.europa.eu).
Governing Board meeting
On the 25th of October, during the European Hydrogen Week, the Governing Board of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership will meet to discuss current matters regarding the partnership, notably the preparation of the 2023 Annual Work Plan ahead of its forecasted publication in early 2023.
Annual Work Plan 2024
Looking ahead, work on the next Annual Work Plan (AWP24) will soon start. If you are a Hydrogen Europe Research member and wish to get involved, do not hesitate to get in touch with our Innovation Manager (l.mazurkiewicz@hydrogeneuroperesearch.eu).
NEWS FROM EUROPE
State of the Union, 14 September 2022
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen delivered her third State of the Union address on 14 September 2022. The speech takes stock of the achievements of the past year and presents the priorities for the year to come.
Regarding hydrogen, Von der Leyen stated that "Hydrogen can change the situation completely in Europe. We have to move from a niche market to a mass market for hydrogen. We’ve doubled our objectives in RePowerEU. To achieve the objectives, we need to create a new hydrogen market to fill the investment gap and match supply and demand for the future.”
During the speech, some topics of interest for the hydrogen community were brought up:
- Measures to answer the energy crisis in Europe: the European institutions are discussing how to address the situation, and both short-term and long-term measures are foreseen. Two extraordinary council meetings were held on 9 and 30 September to adopt some of the emergency measures put forward by the European Commission.
- Creation of a European Hydrogen Bank to guarantee the purchase of hydrogen through a €3 billion investment budget from the Innovation Fund.
- Creation of a European critical raw materials Act, which will identify strategic projects along the supply chain, from extraction to refining, from processing to recycling.
Click here to read the full State of the Union address.
Renewable Energy Directive II (REDII) voted on September 14
The Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001/EU sets emissions reduction targets for the EU. Since 2018, the measures within it have been reviewed several times in order to deliver the urgent emission cuts that are required to achieve the EU’s climate ambitions. This was portrayed in July 2021, when the Commission proposed a revision of the directive as part of the package to deliver on the European Green Deal. Furthermore, in May 2022, the Commission called on the co-legislators, to further increased the Directive targets in order to take into account the current geopolitical situation and the REPowerEU plan newly published.
It is on this proposed revision that on 14 September, the European Parliament adopted its position in plenary session. In this context, an amendment especially relevant to the hydrogen sector was passed, in the plenary session. It proposed to introduce the criteria for renewable hydrogen production in the RED directive, rather than waiting for the adoption of the two Commission’s delegated acts proposed in May 2022.
The Parliament's definition of renewable hydrogen differs from the Commission's proposal:
- The additionality principle stating that renewable hydrogen must be produced from renewable electricity sources is removed;
- The temporal correlation is defined on a quarterly basis rather than a monthly (and hourly after 2030) basis;
- Imported renewable hydrogen would not be submitted to the same rules following the rejection of a linked amendment.
Regarding the next steps, the RED II Directive will go into trialogue. In the meantime, it is expected that negotiations on the delegated act will be frozen.
Check our full statement on the European Parliament vote on the revision of the RED II Directive here.
MEMBERS’ NEWS
WELCOME TO HYDROGEN EUROPE RESEARCH NEW MEMBERS!
Following the approval of the Statutes (April 6, 2022), the Executive Board is now in charge of reviewing the applications received once per month and accepting new members. We are proud to announce that since April 2022, the Executive Board welcomed 18 new full members!
If you are not part of the Hydrogen Europe Research membership, and you would like to have more information on how to join us, contact us at secretariat@hydrogeneuroperesearch.eu!
Click here to discover more about our membership criteria.
NORCE - Norwegian Research Centre
The Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE) is an independent research institute that conducts research for both public and private sectors, to facilitate informed and sustainable choices for the future. They deliver research and innovation in energy, health care, climate, the environment, society and technology. Their solutions address key challenges for society and contribute to value creation on the local, national and global levels.
Yildiz Technical University
The Yildiz Technical University is one of the seven public universities situated in İstanbul. It is the 3rd oldest university of Turkey with its history dating back to 1911, and it is regarded as one of the best universities in the country. The university has 11 Faculties, 2 Institutes, the Vocational School of Higher Education, the Vocational School for National Palaces and Historical Buildings, the Vocational School for Foreign Languages and more than 30,000 students.
MEMBERS' EVENTS
If you are a Hydrogen Europe Research member, and you are organizing an event that would be interesting for the hydrogen community, do not hesitate to share it with us!
Berlin Electrolyser Conference (BEC), 7-8 December 2022, Berlin, Germany
The Berlin Electrolyser Conference (BEC) is an international technical summit focusing on the development, manufacturing, deployment and industrial integration of next generation electrolysers.
Every year, the conference brings together electrolyser specialists, engineering experts, scientific researchers and other stakeholders along the electrolyser value chain.
To discover more about the event, download the agenda, and listen to the Berlin Electrolyser Podcast hosted by Prof. Bruno G. Pollet, click here.
EVENTS ATTENDED BY HYDROGEN EUROPE RESEARCH
ESFRI Stakeholders Forum Meetup, 15 September 2022, Brussels, Belgium
The ESFRI Stakeholders Forum is a newly established platform developed by ESFRI, which aims to promote open dialogue among different research infrastructure stakeholders in Europe.
The 1st ESFRI Stakeholders Forum Meetup took place in person on 15 September 2022 in Brussels; the objective of the event was to facilitate cooperation and mutual learning among research infrastructures and a broad community of stakeholders.
Louis Mazurkiewicz, Hydrogen Europe Research Innovation Manager, was a speaker in the session on energy. Read more here.
Second Conference - Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic 2022, 27-28 September, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
The Second North Adriatic Hydrogen Ecosystem Conference 2022 took place on September 27-28 in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Organised by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and ECUBES, it follows last year’s conference, whose outcome was the development of the first transnational North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley between Italian region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Slovenia and Croatia. Objectives of the second conference were the identification of ideas and partnerships for new projects that will support the energy transition in the region, and the promotion of jobs of the future related to hydrogen technologies.
Luigi Crema, Hydrogen Europe Research Board Member, was a speaker at the event.
DON’T MISS THE NEXT EVENTS!
Reskillled to Repower: H2 Skills Agenda - European Week of Regions & Cities, 12 October in Brussels
The Hydrogen Value Chain is expected to employ more than one million people by 2030 and five times as many by 2050. The REPower Europe and H2 Accelerator add to the pressure to create a European workforce that matches the needs of the growing hydrogen sector. Our session on October 12, from 11:30 AM to 13:00 PM (CET), brings speakers from the industry, local government and education and training providers to discuss H2 skills needs and how to design, replicate and fund curricula and training programmes across Europe.
SPEAKERS
- Massimo Valsania, Co-Chair of the Hydrogen Europe & Hydrogen Europe Research Skills Working Group and VP Engineering, Ethos Energy
- Political representative from Auvergne Rhone Alpes; Member of Hydrogen Europe Regional Pillar;
- Jacqueline van Krieken, Project Coordinator Energy Switch, Technical University (TU) Delft;
- Nikolaos Ntavos, Co-Founder & Manager of Bioeconomy & Environment Cluster of Western Macedonia
During the event, videos showing the best practices from Northern Netherlands, Basque Country, and Occitaine Region will be presented.
The event will be online, and will be moderated by Hydrogen Europe Research.
Click here to learn more and register!
European Hydrogen Week and Hydrogen Europe Flagship Event & Expo, 24-28 October 2022
The World Hydrogen Congress was conceived in 2018 to act as the networking congress for the clean hydrogen industry. Its mission is to accelerate the global commercialisation of clean hydrogen and to help connect the industry by providing an annual diary date for high-quality content and high-intensity networking.
Prof. Daria Vladikova, Hydrogen Europe Research Board Member, will be a speaker in the 3rd annual World Hydrogen Congress, and will participate in a discussion session on hydrogen storage. Click here to register.
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