Aside from the event’s size, scale came as a key theme throughout the first day of proceedings, with calls for scaling up across production, storage, infrastructure, and even legislative framework to aid the hydrogen industry.

In an opening keynote speech, Christian Maaß, Head of Department for Heating, Hydrogen, and Efficiency, at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, told the delegation that now is the time for a cross-industry and governmental effort to develop the industry.

“Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, things are accelerating. As a collective family, we have to try and further accelerate this and have a hydrogen transformation of fossil fuel based systems,” said Maaß. “We need a lot of involvement from all stakeholders. It is particularly important to involve those in the economic and political area.”

Maaß told the expo that the German Federal Government was looking to rework its hydrogen strategy to establish an up-to-date framework, to allow the hydrogen industry to become sustainable without government subsidies.

With the need for Europe to cut its dependency on Russian fossil fuels growing ever stronger, the European Commission’s REPowerEU plan, released in May (2022) targeted 10 million tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen production domestically by 2030.

Read more: €200m for hydrogen research in REPowerEU Plan

With the growing need for an energy alternative, Calum McConnell, Managing Director of ITM Power described a snowball effect in the demand for electrolysers.

“The industry has been pushing a large ball up a large hill, however, over the last 12 to 18 months, we have started running at huge pace down a hill,” said McConnell. “Since February (2022), we have seen a shift away from demands of hydrogen being extremely cheap, to a realisation that Europe needs green hydrogen.”

With over 350 exhibitors, the expo hosted a certain sense of excitement. It was evident that there was hunger among speakers, companies, and delegates alike for the hydrogen industry to realise its full potential.

One of the most visited and buzzing areas of the exhibition, as expected, was the mobility area. Boasting Aero Delft’s hydrogen-powered unmanned aircraft prototype, which promises to unlock the student team’s development journey into liquid hydrogen-fuelled flight; Forze Hydrogen Racing’s VIII race car, which the team hopes is blazing the trail for hydrogen specific motor racing; as well as Faun Zoeller’s hydrogen-powered truck.

Coming at a crucial time in for European energy security and indeed, the hydrogen industry, Charlie Brandon, Event Manager at Trans Global Events, told H2 View, “We’re here to overcome the technological hurdles, connect more conversations, and connect innovation.

“We want to push the message that hydrogen is now and explore how we overcome these supply chain and manufacturing issues to ensure it becomes a reality,” Brandon added.

H2 View will be bringing you the highlights of day two of the Hydrogen Technology Expo Europe 2022.