In June,the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and the European Commission organised Hydrogen Valley Days to publicise existing Valleys as well as discussing future actions to develop new Valleys. The Days consisted of a two day conference in Brussels with the aim of creating new Valleys across Europe. It also looked at the progress of current Valleys, skills development needs and the views of potential investors in the Valleys.

Later in the month, the Commission published a Staff Working Document on Hydrogen Valleys published by DG Research.

A Staff Working Document is used to map out the Commission’s current thinking in developing a policy area and this document builds on the Joint Declaration on Hydrogen Valleys which the Commission signed in early 2023.   The Declaration included a commitment to develop more Hydrogen Valleys in Europe and outlined the ways that this goal could be achieved.  It also argued that Hydrogen Valleys were effective ways in which hydrogen could be scaled up.

After setting the Policy Context, the Hydrogen Valley Working Document defines a Valley and goes through the phases needed to develop such a Valley – from the inception of the Valley, its vision and stakeholders right through to its operational phase.   The publication then looks at “accelerating hydrogen valleys in Europe” and outlines the following ways forward:

1) Reinforcing the research and innovation agenda for clean hydrogen by providing a strategic framework aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of Hydrogen Valleys.

2) Continued investments in research and innovation for clean hydrogen technologies including via the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking under Horizon Europe.

3) Maximise funding impact by working together to strengthen synergies.

4) Promote knowledge sharing and partner matchmaking to build on the existing experience and accelerate successful development of new projects.

5) Stimulate the development of education and training for skills, building on the existing initiatives across the EU.

6) Spearhead the development of Hydrogen Valleys as steppingstones to incubate and grow a European – and by extension global – hydrogen market.

In pursuing these objectives the Commission wants to develop a “Hydrogen Valley Facility” which will include Project Development Assistance. A Tender has been published inviting consultants to tender for the administration and management of the Facility which will cover all countries eligible for Horizon Europe funding. 

As the EU Hydrogen Strategy sets a demanding target for the import of hydrogen by 2030, ports play an important role in the document which states “There are clear research and innovation challenges at various technology readiness levels, such as the deployment of ammonia cracking solutions at industrial capacity in ports, or the efficient storage on-board of hydrogen as a cargo. Huge investments will be also needed to deploy these solutions: current infrastructures are hardly adapted to renewable hydrogen.” Due to their proximity to renewable energy sources and industrial hubs, port regions are also becoming important hydrogen valleys.

For more information plrase contact Jon Jordan at jon@nshymap.com

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