The High Coast to West Coast (HiWhyV) valley plans to link potential hydrogen users in Västernorrland (the High Coast Hub) with the renewable abundant West Coast of Sweden (the West Coast Hub), where plans are progressing for green hydrogen production.

The link could produce up to 132,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year across nine production sites, according to the European Commission.

The Research Institutes of Sweden (Rise) will coordinate the project, which will encompass 45 industry, research and public sector organisations. These include the likes of e-fuel developer Liquid Wind and fuel cell firm PowerCell.

Backed by Horizon Europe funding, the six-year development aims to produce “at least” 4,000 tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030.

It will cover the value chain from production and distribution to industrial end-use across sectors, including industry, transport, and energy.

The organisations say it will help address the “chicken-and-egg” demand-based headwinds. The EU valleys concept aims deliberately bundle multiple offtakers, creating anchored demand and derisking investment.

Rise said the Swedish development was “an important prerequisite for replication in other European regions.”

“Sweden has a unique opportunity to produce hydrogen at low cost, which can give us a real competitive advantage and strengthen Sweden’s and Europe’s energy independence,” Rise’s Head of Bioeconomy, Magnus Hallberg said.

Brussels increasingly sees hydrogen valleys as the most credible mechanism for converting hydrogen ambition into functional regional markets.

HiWhyV would become the 22^nd development encompassed in the hydrogen valley initiative, and only the seventh large-scale valley.