A new meeting of the Energy Cluster’s Hydrogen Sector Forum took place on Wednesday, December 11 at the EIC (Energy Intelligence Center). The Hydrogen Sector Forum is the main meeting point for Basque entities with activity and interest in this field, coordinated by Petronor and organized in collaboration with the associations ACICAE, ACLIMA, Mobility and Logistics Cluster, FLUIDEX, FMV, HEGAN, MAFEX, and SIDEREX.

Manu Nuñez, director of Petronor Innovation, began the event by reviewing the recent activities of the Basque Hydrogen Corridor, highlighting the major milestones achieved in recent months across the entire value chain, demonstrating Euskadi’s capabilities to respond to the challenges posed by the hydrogen sector, and supporting the idea that numerous real initiatives for hydrogen generation and use are beginning to be implemented. He also emphasized the association’s positioning role, having been chosen by the ‘Clean Hydrogen Mission’ (CHM) as one of the eight examples of hydrogen valleys worldwide. Additionally, Asier Irure from CAF presented the results of the FCH2RAIL project, which has demonstrated that hydrogen technology applied to railways is technically viable and ready to develop railway vehicles with promising performance and reliability. It is worth noting that this project was recognized with the “Best Innovation Award 2024” at the recently held European Hydrogen Week, one of the sector’s main events.

The meeting also featured two external guests. On one hand, Jesús Gil, director of Hydrogen at Enagás, presented the perspectives of the European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB) initiative, highlighting the country’s opportunity to create an infrastructure network that connects supply and demand and serves as a driving force for the decarbonization of a competitive industry. He also reminded that the Call for Interest to identify the needs for renewable hydrogen production and consumption along the future corridor that will connect the Iberian Peninsula with the rest of Europe by 2030 is open until December 18, 2024, and confirmed that there are already projects from the Basque Country registered in the process. On the other hand, Minh Khoi Le, Global Head of Hydrogen at Rystad Energy, provided an analysis of the current hydrogen sector landscape, confirming that auctions and decarbonization targets have driven an increase in FID capacity in Europe so far in 2024, although he acknowledged that Spain has much to do to reach the 11 GW target by 2030.

After the networking coffee, a pitch session was held by the Mubil Foundation, where Igor Villareal presented the Foundation’s unique technological capabilities, which include cutting-edge technological infrastructure and equipment capable of offering unique testing capabilities, including an H2 fuel cell laboratory.

Subsequently, a space was dedicated to collaborative R&D activities, where three ELKARTEK projects involving various members of the Sector Forum were presented: H2BASQUE “Technologies for green hydrogen generation” led by Tecnalia, H2MAT+ “Advanced alloys and metallic structures under hydrogen service conditions” led by MGEP, and ONTZHI “Key technologies for hydrogen storage and transport” led by Tecnalia. The Energy Cluster participates in all three projects by developing dissemination and transfer activities.

Finally, the Basuqe Energy Cluster reviewed the main internationalization activities planned for 2025, highlighting attendance at the National Green Hydrogen Congress in Huelva (February 3-6, 2025) and the World Hydrogen Summit & Exhibition in Rotterdam (May 21-23, 2025).

The meeting concluded with a space for B2B bilateral meetings aimed at promoting networking and mutual understanding among attendees. In total, more than 20 B2B meetings were held, where participants had the opportunity to connect with various entities and explore potential collaboration opportunities.