Hydrogen Europe welcomes the organisation of the European Vocational Skills Week and the launch of the European Pact for Skills last week by Commissioner Breton (Internal Market) and Commissioner Schmit (Jobs and Social Rights), together with the German Presidency, to present a shared engagement model for skills development in Europe in the context of the Skills Agenda.
Kick-starting a clean hydrogen economy in Europe by 2030, as a key enabler of the European Green Deal and the EU Recovery Plan, highly relies on the development of relevant skills and training. The fast-growing hydrogen industry will have an increasingly significant role not only in creating new jobs but also in attracting talents and providing with up-and reskilling opportunities.
Hydrogen is a European strategic sector with a far-reaching and interconnected value chain. Its expected development will disrupt a wide range of sectors, from electrolyser and fuel cell production, to renewable energy generation and storage, and infrastructure. The impact is equally expected on the end-use side of mobility (road transport, shipping, aviation…), industrial applications (steelmaking, chemicals…) and building heating.
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Hydrogen Europe Secretary General, underlines “A strong skills approach is absolutely required to achieve the ambitious objectives of the European Hydrogen strategy, become competitive at European and international scale and keep the leadership in hydrogen technologies. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at stake, especially as from 2024. We need to address this challenge very quickly with all relevant stakeholders and get it right”.
Convinced of the importance that skills represent for the hydrogen value chain and the European economy, Hydrogen Europe is looking forward to contributing to the upcoming Skills Pact on Energy and cooperating with the other relevant sectoral pacts.
To this end, Hydrogen Europe will propose to swiftly launch a discussion with its members, together with regional clusters and education entities to assess the needs in the short, medium and long term and propose a roadmap. As a member of the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance, Hydrogen Europe will also seek synergies with the pipeline of investment projects of the Alliance on the skills dimension.
Hydrogen Europe is the leading European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association which promotes clean and low hydrogen carbon as the enabler of a zero-emission society. It currently represents more than 190 industry companies 78 research organizations as well as 25 National Associations. Its member companies are of all sizes and represent the entire hydrogen value chain, from production to transport, distribution and final end-use of hydrogen. The association partners with the European Commission in the innovation program Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU).
For more information, please visit www.hydrogeneurope.eu
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