Partners from industry, universities and decision-makers from the participating countries: Slovenia, Croatia and Italy - the Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, which form the unique international partnership of the North Adriatic Hydorgen Valley, met in Nova Gorica on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 at the 2nd Conference Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic 2022. Leading industries, companies from the region, which strive for carbon neutrality, presented numerous examples of good practices, opportunities and challenges in the field of hydrogen technologies for carbon neutrality and to mitigate climate change. They also presented the advantages of cross-sector integration using applications of hydrogen and renewable energy sources, as well as the possibilities of connecting renewable energy sources with industry, energy and clean transport. The conference addresses partners from the Northern Adriatic region and beyond in the SEE region.
The event was also attended by important political and economic representatives of all three partner countries, thereby showing their support for the European energy transition and further strengthening of cooperation in the newly established hydrogen valley of the North Adriatic. The ultimate goals of the project are to contribute to a sustainable, decarbonized and fully connected EU energy system and to implement the EU Hydrogen Strategy, which plays an important role in the implementation of Europe's climate neutrality plan.
Slovenia will also play an important role in this. "The country sees great potential in hydrogen technologies, which will help decarbonize society. This is necessary in order to deal with the climate crisis, but also to increase energy self-sufficiency or reduce the country's energy dependence. These hydrogen technologies enable both the maintenance and appropriate use of this clean energy in sectors where, in fact, decarbonisation is more difficult to achieve," State Secretary at the Ministry of the Environment Uroš Vajgl said at the meeting.
The international event was attended by Fabio Scoccimarro, minister, who is responsible for energy in the regional government of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. "The use and opportunities associated with the exploitation of hydrogen are a new energy geopolitical challenge. Region Friuli-Venezia Giulia will continue to cooperate with Slovenia and Croatia in this area of development. Hydrogen is a key accelerator of the energy transition process," said Fabio Scoccimarro.
Katharina Bouchaar, Managing Director of Enercy, sharing first impacts and lessons learnt of existing Hydrogen Valleys across Europe at the North Adriatic Hydrogen Ecosystem conference 2022. Image credit: Okolije & Energija Finance
“It has been calculated in a recent report that, if in 2050 at least 23% of the national energy needs is produced with hydrogen, the industry of the sector could generate value up to 1,500 billion euros and create from 320 up to 540 thousand new jobs, reducing carbon dioxide emissions up to a third (28%).
This research is also a declaration of intent: the price of hydrogen produced by renewable energies, which in 2000 was 40 times higher than oil, will have to become competitive in 5 years and meet about a quarter of the Italian energy demand. It is clear, considering the outburst of gas prices in the last months, that this outlook is taking on further, heavier concreteness.”
"We see great potential for the implementation of Hydrogen Valleys in the North-Adriatic region, and we were delighted to participate in this key event to share our experience from developing and deploying other Hydrogen Valleys around Europe. A key step towards full commercial implementation of hydrogen is the establishment of the entire value chain, from production to end-use through supply and distribution locally. Hydrogen Valleys address the challenges of matching supply and demand, while developing appropriate infrastructure and scaling-up local demand for hydrogen, creating jobs and boosting local and regional economies. In that sense, the North-Adriatic region is uniquely placed to continue the work that started in other EU regions and countries like The Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain, and develop cross-border EU-wide collaboration for the development and scaling-up of Hydrogen Valleys across Europe and beyond", said Katharina BOUCHAAR, Managing Director of ENERCY who shared some valuable lessons learnt at the Conference from existing Hydrogen Valley BIG HIT, HEAVENN and GREEN HYSLAND which the company works in.
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