Dear Friends,
It is my pleasure to open the newsletter with an initial message to all of you. First of all, I’d like to thank you all for accepting my candidature and electing me as the new President of Hydrogen Europe Research. It is an honour and a duty at the same time. I’ll do my best in the following months to repay your trust.
I’d like to thank Laurent Antoni, the former President, for his incredible support to HER in the past years. He has supported the Association at a level I’m starting to be aware of only these days. He built a strong reputation around HER, which is one of the most important values we have today. I’m even thankful to Laurent and the Board to have supported me in my candidature.
I'd like to congratulate Julie Mougin on her election as TC1 leader, becoming a new member of the Board. I'm thankful to her for taking the role and even the duty and efforts, sure she will play it with passion and dedication.
In the first days, I’m trying to enter into all the (many) dossiers where Hydrogen Europe Research is involved, aligning with the Board and our Secretariat. At the same time, taking the role in the Governing Board together with Hydrogen Europe, the European Commission with DR RTD, DG ENER and DG MOVE, and the Clean Hydrogen JU Programme Office.
I’ll work in two directions at the same time: mediating and positioning. The first is an essential aspect to let the Partnership have success collaborating within the Governing Board and to find consensus in the most important decisions (we are building an important and impactful programme), the ladder is necessary to raise our voice, the voice of the research, to highlight our priorities, our needs and the overall message that research, starting from the low TRLs, is an essential part of the success for the hydrogen sector and the development of a strong value chain in Europe.
I’m sure we can further extend our collaboration to other players in Europe and promote further actions to position hydrogen at a strategic level, hand in hand with the European Commission and Hydrogen Europe. I take into my own hands the task of promoting the construction of a working group on hydrogen within the EU SET Plan, in support of the DG RTD. A message that I hope could be strengthened by other EU Associations.
I’m happy to say that I’ll be in strict connection with the Committee Group to have a more direct exchange with the Board itself. Additional to this, as my last but not least message, I’d like to thank the Secretariat for the continuous and dedicated support to the work of the Association and to make us connected and alive in all the different streams, being policy awareness, strategy and innovation, communication and knowledge.
With this, I would like to wish you all a good work and to stay in close touch!
Luigi Crema
President, Hydrogen Europe Research
HYDROGEN EUROPE RESEARCH NEWS AND ACTIVITIES
Election of Hydrogen Europe Research President and Hydrogen Production Technical Committee Leader
Luigi Crema, Director of the Centre Sustainable Energy at Fondazione Bruno Kessler and former member of the Executive Board and Hydrogen Production Technical Committee Leader, was elected President of Hydrogen Europe Research during an Extraordinary General Assembly on 24 January 2023.
In his new position, he will continue to support the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and will work together with other hydrogen stakeholders to accelerate the development and deployment of a European value chain for clean hydrogen technologies.
Julie Mougin, Deputy Director for Hydrogen technologies at CEA, was also elected during the Extraordinary General Assembly to replace Luigi as Hydrogen Production Technical Committee Leader.
Click here to meet our Board!
A big thank you to Laurent Antoni, former Hydrogen Europe Research President, who guided the association for 9 years with passion and dedication and made it a key actor in the field of European research on hydrogen and fuel cells. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors!
Spring General Assembly 2023
Hydrogen Europe Research’s next General Assembly will take place in Madrid on 7 June 2023, hosted by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. The meeting will take place in a hybrid format, both online and in person.
All our members are invited to join us in Madrid for a successful event! Additional information regarding the organisation of the meeting will follow soon!
Hydrogen Europe Research Webinar: Meet Our Members!
Our series of webinars “Meet our Members!” successfully started on 18 January 2023. The first theme to be tackled was electrolysis: Hydrogen Europe Research’s members who work on research activities for different electrolysis technologies (AEL, PEMEL, SOEL, AEMEL, PCCEL) presented their projects on this topic and learned what similar activities other institutes in Europe are performing.
This series of webinars aims to provide our members with a platform that could allow them to identify potential partners and develop projects and collaborations.
If you are a Hydrogen Europe Research member and wish to be involved in this initiative, contact Simona at s.vitali@hydrogeneuroperesearch.eu!
The Hydrogen Europe Research intranet is ready to be launched!
If you are a Hydrogen Europe Research member, have a look at your inbox: the email with the credentials will be coming soon! Our intranet will serve as the portal to access resources developed for members only, to further strengthen our connections.
Our intranet will offer to all the members the chance to come in touch with all the ongoing activities inside the Policy Working Group, the Skills Working Group, and the Clean Hydrogen Partnership.
For any questions related to our intranet, contact Simona at s.vitali@hydrogeneuroperesearch.eu!
The Green Skills for Hydrogen project launches its new website
The Green Skills for Hydrogen project introduces its new website, an online platform which will help to improve visibility and awareness of this initiative, and support the promotion of training materials and exchange of best practices on the implementation of an effective and sustainable Hydrogen Skills Strategy and VET Training Programme for Europe.
The global objective of the GreenSkillsforH2 project is to ensure that the skills needs of the rapidly expanding and evolving Hydrogen sector can be met in the short, medium and long term.
The project’s consortium is led by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology with the assistance of Hydrogen Europe Research and Hydrogen Europe.
CLEAN HYDROGEN PARTNERSHIP UPDATES
2023 Call for proposals
Annual Work Plan 2023 was officially published on Tuesday, 17 January 2023! The European Commission Funding & Tenders portal was subsequently opened, where consortia can submit their proposal.
The deadline for the 2023 Call for Proposals is Tuesday 18 April. All the relevant information on this Call can be found on the Clean Hydrogen Partnership website, via this link. Should you need further information, we are happy to provide you with our support! Thank you to all Hydrogen Europe Research members involved in the development of this important Call for research in the hydrogen sector!
2023 Info Day
On Thursday, 26 January, the Programme Office of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership organised its annual Info Day to present all the research and innovation topics included in the 2023 Call for Proposals, as well as all the necessary information to apply. The presentations and recording can be found on the Clean Hydrogen Partnership website, via this link
Annual Work Plan 2024
Preparations for Annual Work Plan 2024 have internally started within the common Hydrogen Europe Research and Hydrogen Europe Technical Committees. A kick-off webinar presenting all the activities and milestones for that will be undertaken during the year was hosted by the Innovation Team on Wednesday, 8 February; all relevant documentation will be made available to Hydrogen Europe Research members.
In addition, should you wish to get involved more closely in our different research and innovation roadmaps, please get in touch with our Innovation Manager, Louis Mazurkiewicz (l.mazurkiewicz@hydrogeneuroperesearch.eu).
NEWS FROM EUROPE
Horizon Europe widens its scope
On 20 December, the European Commission announced that an agreement was found to associate New Zealand to the Horizon Europe programme. Therefore, we expect that from 2023, researchers and organisations in New Zealand will be able to participate in Pillar II of the Horizon Europe programme, the most relevant and biggest collaborative part that is primarily focused on shared global challenges: these include areas in climate, energy and mobility, digital, industry and space, health, and more. Read more here.
Negotiations with Canada and Japan are also ongoing.
Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union
On 1 January 2023, Sweden took over the rotating Presidency of the Council which will run until 31 June 2023.
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates among the Member States every six months. The country that holds the Presidency leads the work of the Council and represents all 27 Member States in negotiations with other EU institutions.
Hydrogen is included in the programme of the Swedish presidency, which aims to "[…] advance the work on the proposals in the hydrogen and decarbonised gas market package. It is important to increase the proportion of renewable and low 27 carbon gases in the energy system while reducing natural gas use”.
Find more information about their programme and priorities here.
Young Research Careers Manifesto
A Young Research Careers Manifesto was prepared and launched under the scope of the 4th Gago Conference on European Science Policy, jointly organised by Ciência Viva, Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) and the CNRS. It was held on 13 June 2022 in Brussels and hosted in the French Permanent Representation under the French Presidency of the European Council.
The manifesto called for the monitoring of the situation of young researchers at European level, the improvement of their working conditions, the enhancement of research careers in the third sector and the involvement of national funding agencies in cooperation with the European Commission
The manifesto's message was well received at the European Commission and by Commissioner Gabriel, who participated in a handover ceremony of the Manifesto on 10 January.
Read the manifesto here.
Hydrogen Europe Research endorsed a letter to support a truly European renewable hydrogen value chain
Hydrogen Europe Research supported a letter, sent on 31 January to the President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen, which called on the EU for more support to the development of a truly European renewable hydrogen value chain.
The letter, signed by 20 companies, including 11 electrolyser manufacturers, pointed out that European money invested in renewable hydrogen projects is finding its way into the hands of non-European-based competitors, and urged the Members States to take proactive measures to ensure that European standards are enforced to maintain technological leadership in electrolysers.
The enforcement of European standards will level the playing field and contribute to the rise of a new European industry, and will be key to ensuring job creation, as well as the highest level of innovation, sustainability, quality, reliability and efficiency of products and their constant improvement.
MEMBERS’ NEWS
WELCOME TO HYDROGEN EUROPE RESEARCH NEW MEMBERS!
Following the approval of the Statutes (April 6, 2022), the Executive Board is in charge of reviewing the applications received once per month and accepting new members. We are delighted to announce that since April 2022, the Executive Board welcomed 29 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.
Istanbul Technical University
Istanbul Technical University, which is approaching its 250th anniversary, is one of the oldest technical universities in the world. Istanbul Technical University is an institution that plays a leading role in science, technology, arts and sports, and aims to be the center of science, which connects the past to the present by producing projects for the future.
University of Southern Denmark
The University of Southern Denmark welcomed the first students onto the campus in Odense in September 1966. They now have five faculties with more than 27,000 students. Several international studies document that they conduct world-class research and are one of the top fifty young universities in the world.
Luleå University of Technology
Luleå University of Technology experiences rapid growth with world-leading expertise within several research domains. Their research is carried out in close collaboration with companies such as Bosch, Ericsson, Scania, LKAB, SKF as well as with leading international universities and national and regional actors. Luleå University of Technology has an annual turnover of SEK 1.9 billion. Today, they have 1,815 staff and 19,155 students.
CIC energiGUNE
CIC energiGUNE is the research center of electrochemical and thermal energy storage, a strategic initiative of the Basque Government. CIC energiGUNE was born in 2011 to generate excellent research in materials and systems for energy storage. The goal of CIC energiGUNE is to maximize the impact on results to the Basque business network through collaboration with universities, research centers, and companies.
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) conducts cutting-edge research with a long-term focus in the fields of energy, health and matter. They deliver solutions to the great challenges of our time and see it as our task to provide knowledge and technology for the next generations. The research site looks back on more than 50 years of history.
University of Ljubljana
The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest higher education and scientific research institution in Slovenia. The university was founded in 1919 and has approximately 40,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. The University of Ljubljana is renowned for its quality social and natural sciences and technical study programmes; their projects keep pace with the latest developments in the areas of arts, sciences and technology at home and abroad.
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen is a research university with a global outlook, deeply rooted in Groningen, City of Talent. Quality has had top priority for four hundred years, and with success: the University is currently in or around the top 100 on several influential ranking lists.
Foundation CIDETEC
CIDETEC is an organization for applied research that integrates three international reference institutes in the fields of energy storage, surface engineering and nanomedicine. Since 2000 up to now, CIDETEC has developed R & D projects with companies working in different productive sectors. At the same time, in collaboration with other industrial partners, CIDETEC has set up 6 new companies that industrialize a number of developments and complement the centre’s activity.
MEMBERS' INITIATIVES
HySET – Hydrogen Systems and Enabling Technologies will start in September 2023!
HySET - Hydrogen Systems and Enabling Technologies is the first Hydrogen Technology Master of Science, funded by the European Erasmus+ program!
The main purpose of HySET is to train professionals and researchers with multidisciplinary knowledge in the hydrogen sector and related systems, in an international and multicultural environment, in order to stimulate global collaboration capable of responding to the complex challenges arising in the energy transition.
The course will start in September 2023, and is coordinated by Politecnico di Torino, with the active participation of Politecnico di Milano, Eindhoven University of Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya.
The program is open to all applicants around the world, and the deadline to apply is 15 March 2023.
You will find more information about the course and how to enroll here.
DON'T MISS THE NEXT EVENTS!
Repowering the EU with Hydrogen Valleys: showcasing innovative solutions, 1 March 2023 in Brussels, Belgium
The event ‘Repowering the EU with Hydrogen Valleys: showcasing innovative solutions’, will take place in-person on 1 March, in Autoworld in Brussels, from 14:00 to 17:00 (CET). This unique event is organised by DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission, and supported by Hydrogen Europe, Hydrogen Europe Research, and the Clean Hydrogen Partnership. It will bring together the entire community to discuss the central role of Hydrogen Valleys in kick-starting the hydrogen economy at the local level and showcase a wide range of innovative hydrogen solutions.
For more information and to register, click here.
Please note that this registration is open until 21/02/2023 (Tuesday) 12:00 CET.
For any questions please please contact EC-HYDROGEN-EVENTS@ec.europa.eu
Hydrogen Days, 29–31 March 2023 in Prague, Czech Republic
The Hydrogen Days conference is an excellent frame for updates on hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and represents the best setting to show the latest advances in research, projects, and products in the Czech Republic, Visegrad regions, and Central Europe. World-renowned experts, including government officials, entrepreneurs & students will discuss the latest progress in research, industry and the public policy scene, and promote further development and the implementation of hydrogen technologies in our daily lives.
Hydrogen Europe Research is a bronze sponsor of the event. Click here to discover more.
3rd International Seminar “Living on Hydrogen” - Microbial Influence on Hydrogen Underground Storage, 4 May 2023
Save the date for the 3rd “Living on Hydrogen” webinar on May 4 from 12:30 to 15:30 CET!
More and more data and knowledge are now obtained by researchers around the world on the topic of hydrogen underground storage in general and specifically the role of microbes. This free online seminar is aimed towards cross-disciplinary scientists, operators and industry members, interested in understanding microbial risks and working on this fascinating topic.
If you want to present your recent findings on the topic, you are still in time to send a short abstract (max. 200 words) via e-mail to: livingonh2webinar@gmail.com
The deadline for submitting a document is March 1, 2023.
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