During the presentation, Jone Irigoyen, ACE's hydrogen project engineer, highlighted the Basque Country’s technological and industrial strength in the hydrogen sector, which is reflected throughout a value chain, in which the scientific and technological capabilities play a major role in order to stimulate training, R&D and industrial development, which will position the Basque Country as a technology exporter in an R&D market that is constantly growing.

The main initiative presented at the session was H2BASQUE, a project led by the TECNALIA technology centre, which is aimed at developing innovative technologies such as AEM electrolysis, PEM electrolysis and thermochemical cycles to generate green hydrogen at a competitive price. More specifically, H2BASQUE will contribute to reducing the cost of PEM electrolysers by developing catalysts for electrodes with a low content of critical material, developing an anion exchange membrane that combines the advantages of PEM and alkaline technologies, thereby reducing manufacturing and operating costs, and generating green hydrogen in the lowest possible temperature range (< 500 °C), which makes it possible to maximise production and improve the reversibility of the material so as to achieve economic feasibility on an industrial scale.

There was also a brief presentation on the H2MAT and EKARRIH2 initiatives, which are led by the UNIVERSITY OF MONDRAGON and TECNALIA, respectively The H2MAT initiative focuses on the design, manufacture and evaluation of multilayer high entropy alloy steel interface structures as an alternative to the limitations of stainless steel currently used in hydrogen transportation applications. Meanwhile, EKARRIH2 aims to develop advanced liquid hydrogen carriers and associated hydrogenation and dehydrogenation technologies to transport large quantities of hydrogen over long distances in an economically feasible manner.