Dear colleagues, dear friends of Hydrogen Europe Research,

What a journey!

The European Hydrogen Week organised at the end of October in Brussels has been quite impressive (despite some complexity in registration!). The European hydrogen (research and industry) community is continuously growing with more and more commercial systems and products presented at the exhibition. The high expectations of hydrogen as a significant contributor to achieving the Green Deal but also the Repower EU targets have again been stressed by many high-level people from the European Commission and Member States.

It has been a real pleasure to enable again face-to-face discussions between our members at the occasion of our General Assembly. Time was even too short for many of us after this long period of online meetings, and we will ensure to increase the break times at our next General Assembly in Madrid next Spring.

As the youth is our future, the 2022 Young Scientist Awardees have been particularly inspiring by expressing their pleasure and pride to be part of the European hydrogen community. European research has young talents on which we can rely on to discover the needed disruptive innovations!

HYDROGEN EUROPE RESEARCH NEWS AND ACTIVITIES

Hydrogen Europe Research General Assembly

The General Assembly is the highest organ of Hydrogen Europe Research. It is composed of all our members, who meet twice a year to discuss the activities of the association and network.

On October 25, we held our General Assembly in Brussels, in the context of the European Hydrogen Week. The meeting took place in a hybrid format, both online and in-person, and saw the participation of more than 140 members from almost 100 entities and 27 countries across Europe.

This General Assembly was a great chance, for Hydrogen Europe Research, to promote its communications, policy and skills activities, disseminate news from the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, and anticipate some projects for the near future.

We wish to thank the 65 participants who joined us in person in Brussels, and the ones who attended the meeting online – you allowed us to host a very successful meeting!

Our next General Assembly is foreseen to take place next year in May/June in Madrid in a hybrid format. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) has kindly accepted to host us. We are looking forward to meeting you again and allowing more time for lunch and informal discussions!

Young Scientist Award 2022 – Winners announced!

Five young researchers belonging to Hydrogen Europe Research’s member organisations have been awarded on October 26!

The Young Scientist Award is an annual competition organised by Hydrogen Europe Research and conducted during the European Hydrogen Week. With these awards, Hydrogen Europe Research wishes to give visibility to the work of students, PhDs, postdocs and young researchers, and aknowledge in particular their involvement in Clean Hydrogen Partnership projects. Another goal is to attract young talents to work in the field of hydrogen and fuel cells.

This year, the application revolved around four pillars, reflecting the structure of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership. One young scientist was awarded in each pillar, and for the first time, one was elected as “Best Researcher of the Year”:

🔹Hydrogen production: Michele Bolognese (Fondazione Bruno Kessler - FBK)

🔹Hydrogen storage and distribution: Lisa Blanchard (CEA)

🔹Hydrogen usages: Merit Bodner (Technische Universität Graz)

🔹Cross-Cutting activities: Donatella Cirrone (Ulster University)

🔹Best researcher of the year: Erika Michela Dematteis (Università degli Studi di Torino)

The award ceremony took place in Brussels, at Brussels Expo.  The five winners attended the ceremony in person; they received a prize of 1000 EUR and a trophy. Congratulations to all of them and warm regards to all the applicants who may reapply for the awards next year!

Download the press release here.

Hydrogen Europe Flagship Event & Expo

Hydrogen Europe Research was very proud to participate in the Hydrogen Europe Flagship Event & Expo as an exhibitor with its own pavilion! From October 25 until October 27, our members had the opportunity to have their own stands in the HER pavilion at booth 23, showcase their activities and projects, and network with other hydrogen stakeholders.

Hydrogen Europe Research Skills Working Group: Meeting on Industry Skills Needs, 18 October 2022

During the two-hour meeting organised on October 18 in the remit of the Skills Working Group of Hydrogen Europe Research & Hydrogen Europe, industry stakeholders and recruitment firms were invited to discuss about tensions on the job market, and skills needs from the industry perspective.
Speakers from Linde, BMW, BP, Borea, HySow pointed out that collaboration between industry and education providers should be enhanced, to train the qualified needed workforce for the hydrogen market.

As announced by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, 2023 will be the European Year of Skills. This will be an important year for the Working Group that will closely follow activities in this area.

CLEAN HYDROGEN PARTNERSHIP UPDATES

European Hydrogen Week

The Clean Hydrogen Partnership organised the Clean Hydrogen Partnership Forum (Wednesday, October 26) and the EU Research Days (October 27-28), during which panel discussions on topics related to the Partnership took place. These three days gathered many experts and stakeholders from public, research and industrial sectors.

The 2022 Clean Hydrogen Partnership awards were also announced, more information can be found online!

2022 Call for proposals

Following the evaluations of the proposals, successful consortia will be contacted by the Programme Office 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 & Annual Work Plan 2023

The Governing Board of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership met on Tuesday, October 25, during the European Hydrogen Week, to discuss current matters within the Partnership, notably the finalisation of the Annual Work Plan 2023. The final drafts of topics to be included in the document have been shared with the Stakeholders Group and States Representatives Group, the two consultative bodies of the Partnership, for feedback ahead of the finalisation of the Annual Work Plan by the end of the year. AWP23 publication is expected as usual during the FCH 2 JU by end of January/early February.

Annual Work Plan 2024

Work on the next Annual Work Plan (AWP24) will start in December 2022 – this process will last until the end of 2023. 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

Hydrogen Europe Research Feedback: Eu Energy Policy – Revamping the Strategic Energy Technology Plan

The European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) is described as a key stepping-stone to boost the transition towards a climate-neutral energy system. It aims to coordinate research and innovation efforts among Member States and provide a discussion platform for alignment of research activities at national levels.

In the context of discussions about a revamped SET Plan, Hydrogen Europe Research provided its support to the proposal to establish an Implementation Working Group dedicated to hydrogen. Indeed, fuel cells and hydrogen has become an increasingly relevant policy topic on the European stage. Connecting Member States ministries to align their efforts on national research and innovation activities in the field of hydrogen would increase the visibility of the hydrogen sector.

EUROPEAN OPPORTUNITIES

EIT launches EUR 12 million call to boost innovation and reskilling in European Higher Education

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and coordinator EIT RawMaterials are launching a new funding opportunity under the EIT HEI Initiative to boost innovation in higher education. 12 million EUR funding opportunity will be made available to train the next generation of deep tech talent. The EIT HEI Call will support up to 16 innovation projects, made up of consortia from European academic and non-academic organisations, with a maximum of €750,000 per project.

The application system will open on 17 November 2022; interested projects will have until 28 February 2023, 17:00 CET, to submit their applications. A series of webinars will take place to provide more details and answer applicants’ questions. Register now for the information sessions!

Find out more information about the call and how to apply here.

Innovation Fund Large Scale Projects - Innovative electrification in industry and hydrogen

The Innovation Fund is one of the world’s largest funding programmes for the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies. The Innovation Fund provides grants for projects aiming at commercial deployment of innovative low-carbon technologies, with the objective of bringing to the market industrial solutions to decarbonise Europe and support its transition to climate neutrality.

As of November 3, the call “Innovative electrification in industry and hydrogen” is open. The objective of this call is to support projects on innovative electrification in industry and innovative hydrogen production and use, in support of the 2030 targets for renewable hydrogen established in the REPowerEU Action Plan, and to decrease the use of and dependency on imported fossil fuels.

Deadline to apply is 16 March 2023, 17:00:00 CET. Discover how to submit your application 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 delighted to announce that since April 2022, the Executive Board welcomed 19 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.

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

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

16^th Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) Conference, 9-10 November 2022, Prague, Czech Republic

The 2022 edition of the SET Plan conference, “Towards a new Strategic Energy Technology Plan”, aimed to explore the transformational pathways to sustainable, secure, resilient and competitive energy systems and value chains, as well as to raise awareness among all stakeholders on the latest research and innovations in the field of carbon-neutral energy technologies.

The event focused on research and innovation in the field of energy in the context of the current climate and geopolitical challenges.

Daria Vladikova, Hydrogen Europe Research Board Member, was a speaker in the session entitled “Hydrogen: the future is already here, and so are its challenges”.

Click here to discover more about the conference.

23rd International Conference on Industrial Technology Innovation – Innovation Policies towards Net-Zero Future, 27 October 2022, Taipei, Taiwan

Hydrogen Europe Research had the honour to be invited to the 23rd International Conference on Industrial Technology Innovation organised by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER). Our Innovation Manager, Louis Mazurkiewicz, represented the association and gave a keynote speech on fuel cells and hydrogen research in Europe. Other speakers included Dr Xin-Wu Lin (vice-President of TIER), Dr Lin (science and technology advisor to the Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs), Dr Jack Chang (senior Chief Strategic Officer at the Industrial Technology Research Institute), Dr Meg Lin (CEO of the Taiwan Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Partnership and deputy Director of TIER), Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer (Director of UK Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre) and Dr Osamu Kimura (senior researcher at the Japanese Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry).

Hydrogen Europe Research is looking forward to collaborating further with TIER in the future!

Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector, 11-12 October 2022, Lubjana, Slovenia

The European Defence Agency organised its first CF SEDSS III thematic workshop on hydrogen on 11-12 October 2022 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, under the auspices of the Slovenian Ministry of Defence. Entitled “Decarbonising defence through hydrogen solutions”, the workshop brought together experts of the CF SEDSS Working Group 2 on Renewable Energy Sources and the Transversal Working Group. The primary scope of the workshop was to explore the opportunities for decarbonising the defence sector using clean hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. It also allowed the participants to become more familiar with the EU strategic context and policy framework on hydrogen.

Guillermo Figueruelo Malo, Board Member, was very pleased to represent Hydrogen Europe Research and discuss hydrogen valleys.

Click here to learn more.

Reskillled to Repower: H2 Skills Agenda - European Week of Regions & Cities, 12 October 2022

Julia Cora, Hydrogen Europe Research Project Manager, moderated the session entitled “Reskilled to Repower: H2 Skills Agenda” during the European Week of Regions & Cities. The session gathered representatives from industry, regional authorities and knowledge providers to exchange information about the sector’s skills and training needs.

During the session, speakers pointed out that industry, national and regional administrations, training providers need to work together to define now what are our skills needs, to best develop educational programs to address them.

You can discover more about the event and watch the recording here.

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