Holding Slovenske elektrarne (HSE), the leading partner in the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley (NAHV) project, last week with The Clean Hydrogen Partnership Joint Undertaking on behalf of the entire consortium led by, signed an agreement on the co-financing of the NAHV project with 25 million euros in grants. This also officially gave the green light for the implementation of a transnational European project within the Horizon Europe program aimed at establishing a dedicated hydrogen valley. The start of implementation is September 1, 2023, and the project will last 72 months and will include seventeen pilot projects in different locations in all three partner countries.
The partnership, led by HSE, the largest producer and trader of electricity in the country and the largest producer of electricity from renewable sources, includes 37 organizations: companies, universities, institutes and other public institutions from three countries: Slovenia, Croatia and Italy – the autonomous region of Friuli – Julian landscapes. The design of the project encompasses the entire chain of use of renewable hydrogen, from production through storage and distribution to its final use in various sectors, especially industry and land and sea transport. This is also why the NAHV project received the Seal of Excellence, which is awarded to projects rated with excellence within the Horizon Europe program.
Industrial players from all three countries will develop pilot projects for the production of more than five thousand tons of renewable hydrogen per year from renewable energy sources and its storage, distribution and use. Among the most important goals of the project is the establishment of a market for renewable hydrogen both on the demand side and on the supply side, which will make it a competitive energy source of the future. By introducing advanced technologies for the utilization of hydrogen and by developing knowledge and infrastructure, the project also pursues other key goals from the European Green Deal. In particular, it concerns the decarbonisation of important industrial sectors such as the production of steel, cement and glass, sustainable transport solutions linked to the reduction of the carbon footprint.
“We are proud that the extremely interesting and promising Northern Adriatic Hydrogen Valley project was declared one of the best in the Horizon Europe tender and that we are the leading partner in it,” said Dr. Tomaž Štokelj, General Director of HSE, and expressed satisfaction that the HSE group will also actively participate in it. Out of the total five thousand tons of hydrogen planned, the installation of infrastructure for the production of up to 3,000 tons of renewable hydrogen per year is planned in the area of the Šoštanj Power Plant, which will further contribute to the just transition of the coal region.
“The hydrogen valley project is fully consistent with the vision of HSE – the carrier of Slovenia’s green transition. Hydrogen is one of the key energy sources of the future, and with it we will significantly contribute to the achievement of national and European goals in the field of decarbonization, and at the same time we have already placed Slovenia on the world map of hydrogen valleys. The NAHV project is already placed on the platform of hydrogen valleys with an innovation mission, the Mission Innovation Hydrogen Valley Platform, which is managed by the European industry association for hydrogen, the Clean Hydrogen Partnership,” adds Dr. Tomaž Štokelj, General Director of HSE.
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