The third edition of the continent-focused conference unites policymakers, industry representatives and experts across the hydrogen value chain, and sees exhibitors covering more than 4,000sqm of exhibition space, more than 20 sessions and over 200 speakers.
A Policy Conference (hybrid) focuses on Research and Innovation activities in the EU under the lead of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership with a dedicated Event on Hydrogen Valleys in the framework of the REPowerEU Strategy.
Today’s programme focuses on ‘Building the global hydrogen economy’ with a keynote speech from Gerd Müller, Director General, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), followed by ‘Hydrogen and the new geopolitics of energy’, with REPowerEU setting the ambition of importing 10Mt of renewable hydrogen by 2030.
Competition for hydrogen imports, adequate financing instruments, new energy dependencies, and an international market based on common standards are among the key challenges that need to be addressed.
In a letter to the European Commission, a group of Members of European Parliament (MEPs) recently made calls to develop a “coherent” legal framework for clean hydrogen, focusing on domestic production.
Read more: MEPs call for European Commission to reconsider hydrogen imports
The third session considers ‘Transporting hydrogen – Global and European Infrastructure’, examining the missing elements to achieve a resilient backbone suitable for the transport, distribution and storage of clean hydrogen in Europe and vis-a-vis neighbouring regions.
The European Parliament has sent “a strong signal” that clean hydrogen mobility is a viable and realistic solution to move away from fossil fuels in the transport sector, according to Hydrogen Europe.
A maximum distance of 100km between each hydrogen refuelling station, along both the core and comprehensive TEN-T networks, will mean that by the time the infrastructure is in place by end of 2027, up to 1,780 HRS could be available across Europe, suppling up to 1m tonnes of hydrogen per year, sufficient to power up to 59,000 trucks (assuming 60kg/truck per day).
Attention then turns to Hydrogen Europe’s Flagship Event and Expo where attendees can hear all about latest hydrogen-based solutions, trends, and approaches in the global energy sector.
The event will have an exhibition area as well as two conference streams, one centred around global, European and national hydrogen developments, the other serving as a B2B Conference focusing on technology, market, and financial developments.
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Hydrogen Europe CEO, said, “There is no doubt that clean hydrogen will redraw the energy map, and be one of the best bets to fight climate change. As more companies turn to clean hydrogen, the only way to meet the fast-growing demand is through collaboration.”
The Clean Hydrogen Awards will acknowledge leading EU hydrogen projects in the categories of Best Outreach, Best Success Story and Best Innovation.
Programme Review Days will gather independent opinions and advice from the wider scientific community on partnership activities, in particular its programme and projects, and Hydrogen Side Events across EU Member States are encouraged.
H2 View is media partner of EU Hydrogen Week and will be reporting on latest news and developments.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen recently announced that the commission has created a new ‘European Hydrogen Bank’ to invest €3bn ($2.9bn) to help develop the hydrogen market.
“Hydrogen can change the situation completely for Europe. We need to move from a niche market to a mass market for hydrogen,” said von der Leyen, “With REPowerEU we have renewed our goals. We want to produce 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen a year by 2030. To achieve that, we need to create a new hydrogen market to fill the investment gap, and to match supply and demand for the future.”