The new EU Clean Hydrogen Partnership launch was announced this week during the opening keynote by the President von der Leyen at the EU Hydrogen Week 2021. The Partnership aims to bring together the European Commission, the hydrogen industry, researchers and innovators as well as policy-makers from the Member States, building on the joint efforts of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU).

The new partnership is a key component of the EU’s hydrogen strategy which was launched in July 2020. It will be co-funded by industry and the Horizon Europe research programme and it builds on the partnership under the previous Horizon 2020 programme. The hydrogen partnership is a part of a €22 billion package of industrial partnerships. The calls for 2022 are ready to open, with €300 million foreseen to be announced in the first quarter of next year.

The Clean Hydrogen Partnership will also foster innovation by boosting research and sharing expertise and data. The FCH JU has made a first step towards such knowledge sharing with the FCH Observatory, a platform which offers comprehensive information and support for the entire hydrogen sector.

The FCH JU has already worked on improving the hydrogen technologies across Europe. Started by FCH JU, Hydrogen Valleys were designed to fast-track and incubate hydrogen technologies by bringing flagship projects from different sectors to the same geographical area, showing that the whole ecosystem can be integrated. There is in total 36 Hydrogen Valleys across 20 countries.

The Hydrogen Valleys have been one of the focus points for the ERRIN Energy & Climate Change WG in the past years. The new partnership will be also closely followed as it develops.