The SH2AMROCK project has been confirmed as a key participant in a high-level diplomatic and energy exchange uniting policymakers, academic researchers, and industry leaders from Estonia and Galway to tackle urgent sustainability and governance challenges.

Inspired by the Irish EU Presidency’s County-Pairings Initiative—which formally pairs Galway County with Estonia—the gathering is officially recognized as an Associated Event of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026.

As Europe accelerates the transition toward decarbonisation, the event serves as a platform to share expertise on shared strategic priorities. At the forefront of the discussions is the development and scaling of Hydrogen Valleys, the modernization of renewable energy systems, and the integration of emerging green technologies such as sustainable data centres and artificial intelligence.

Expertise Driving the European Hydrogen Roadmap

Key leaders driving the SH2AMROCK initiative will contribute directly to the event’s panel discussions and strategic sessions:

• Professor Rory Monaghan (Project Coordinator of SH2AMROCK, Head of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Galway), who leads the €54-million flagship project to establish Ireland’s first fully integrated Hydrogen Valley, will share insights on multi-sector hydrogen deployment and cross-border energy modeling.

• Luis Miguel Blanes Restoy (Senior Energy Researcher, University of Galway), bringing expertise in energy systems integration, smart energy management, and building decarbonisation frameworks.

• Júlia T. M. Machado (HIVE Hydrogen), providing industry perspectives on clean hydrogen production, commercialization, and infrastructure scaling across European markets.

Strengthening Regional Governance and Innovation

Through three expert panel discussions and keynote addresses, the SH2AMROCK team will demonstrate how regional clean hydrogen hubs can connect policy frameworks, scientific research, and commercial execution. The sessions will explore how Estonia and Galway are addressing shared energy bottlenecks while identifying actionable opportunities for joint research, policy development, and sustainable economic growth.

By fostering direct cross-border collaboration, the initiative illustrates how localized Hydrogen Valleys can serve as scalable blueprints for European energy security and industrial transformation.

Stay tuned and don’t miss out. Secure your place to the CONNECTING SUSTAINABLE WAYS: ESTONIA AND GALWAY here!

The global clean hydrogen ecosystem is navigating a crucial period of market recalibration. Following the peak of early enthusiasm in 2022, the sector has transitioned into a rigorous commercialization phase characterized by project consolidation, techno-economic scrutiny, and persistent regulatory bottlenecks. Yet, amid mounting market headwinds, integrated Hydrogen Valleys have emerged as the foundational anchor of the energy transition.

According to the State of the Clean Hydrogen Valleys Sector 2026 Report, published by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership in collaboration with Roland Berger and Mission Innovation, integrated regional ecosystems continue to demonstrate superior resilience compared to standalone production assets.

                                 AT A GLANCE: H2V SECTOR STATS (2026)
┌───────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┐
│ 106 Registered Valleys    │    €134 Billion Planned      │   >21 GW Aggregate Planned   │
│ (91% Located in Europe)   │            CAPEX             │     Electrolyser Capacity    │
└───────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────┘

1. Ground-Level Progress Amid Market Consolidation

While global project pipelines face postponements and cancellations—driven by inflated early cost expectations and regulatory delays—operational capacity on the ground continues to scale.

• Operational Growth: Operational electrolyser capacity in Europe has reached over 600 MW, with Hydrogen Valleys accounting for approximately 400 MW of this total.

• FID Momentum: In 2025 alone, over 800 MW of electrolyser capacity reached Final Investment Decision (FID) in Europe, bringing total post-FID capacity to 3.3 GW—half of which is slated to become operational during 2026.

• Global Scale: The H2V Platform now tracks 106 Hydrogen Valleys globally (up from 34 at its 2021 inception). Projects at or beyond FID now represent 37% of the global portfolio, with operational projects doubling from 9% in 2024 to 18% in 2026.

2. The Bottlenecks: Offtake, Costs, and Market Sentiment

For the first time, the 2026 report incorporates a comprehensive Market Sentiment Survey across global project developers, revealing a stark contrast between short-term commercial friction and long-term strategic conviction.

                     PRIMARY CAUSES OF HYDROGEN VALLEY PROJECT DELAYS
┌──────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Business Case / Economics            │ 39%                                          │
│ Supply Chain Constraints             │ 30%                                          │
│ Insufficient Funding (Public/Private)│ 25%                                          │
│ Permitting & Authorisation Delays    │ 25%                                          │
└──────────────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────┘

• The Offtake Challenge: Offtake remains the single most critical bottleneck on the path to FID. 68% of developers have secured less than 25% of their targeted binding offtake volume, reflecting industrial hesitancy to commit to long-term purchase agreements without finalized demand-side mandates.

• Cost Disconnect: 58% of respondents anticipate a Levelised Cost of Hydrogen (LCoH) exceeding €6/kg H₂, whereas current willingness-to-pay across major industrial end-use sectors ranges between €4.50 and €8.00/kg H₂.

• Enduring Long-Term Conviction: Despite near-term delays affecting 39% of projects, 59% of developers remain confident or very confident in clean hydrogen as a long-term net-zero solution.

3. Strategic Roadmap for Developers, Policymakers, and Investors

To bridge the gap between regional ambitions and final commercial execution, the report outlines targeted imperatives for key industry stakeholders:

1. Project Developers: Secure industrial anchor offtakers (e.g., refineries, chemical, and steel plants) early in pre-FEED stages to establish bankable revenue baselines. Diversify income by unlocking revenue streams beyond H₂ sales, such as grid flexibility services and oxygen co-product monetization.

2. Policymakers: Convert policy goals into binding, enforceable demand quotas under regulations like RED III. Streamline permitting workflows and bridge early-stage financial risks via targeted Contracts for Difference (CfD) and de-risking mechanisms.

3. Investors: Deploy blended finance architectures to absorb pre-FID development risks, while treating clean hydrogen infrastructure as a distinct, long-term asset class.

Through dedicated initiatives like the H2V Facility, offering tailored Project Development Assistance (PDA) and capacity building, the Clean Hydrogen Partnership continues to empower regional ecosystems across Europe and globally to reach FID and accelerate the net-zero transition.

Download the report here!

Great energy maps are not drawn overnight; they are built on technical consensus, impact analysis, and a dense network of conceptual pipelines that precede the physical ones. The EASTGATEH2V project, one of the most ambitious cross-border vectors for energy cohesion in Europe, has officially closed its first year of operations. To evaluate this milestone and establish the roadmap for physical deployment, partners from the seven consortium nations met in person in Košice (Slovakia), the coordinating region acting as the epicenter of this emerging ecosystem.

Over three intense days (June 2–4), working sessions at the headquarters of the Košice Self-Governing Region served to validate the project’s foundational phase. This inaugural year was defined by critical, behind-the-scenes spadework: technical and regulatory preparation, active engagement of local and global stakeholders, and the strengthening of internal governance across the multi-country consortium.

Driving the development of hydrogen valleys in Central Europe

With the analytical phase successfully concluded, the project’s second year marks the beginning of tangible execution. The consortium’s strategic objectives are now shifting toward detailed engineering and physical implementation within the European hydrogen ecosystem:

• Infrastructure and Applications: Formally transitioning into the deployment phase for clean hydrogen production, storage, and logistical systems.

• Comprehensive Impact Assessment: Rigorous measurement of socio-economic variables and the environmental footprint of the valley across the involved territories.

• European Network Integration: Intensifying knowledge transfer and exchange of experiences with other established hydrogen valleys in the European Union.

The Impact of the EASTGATEH2V Project

Interconnecting regional energy hubs reduces fossil fuel dependency in critical industrial areas, positioning the development of hydrogen valleys like EASTGATEH2V as a cornerstone for Central and Eastern Europe’s green transition.

Energy Diplomacy on the Ground

The chronicle of this summit leaves behind not only technical certainties but also the enduring value of proximity diplomacy. Following the intense debates in the meeting rooms, partners continued their discussions in a historic setting: the iconic Pivovar Hostinec, one of the oldest operating restaurants in Slovakia. This proved that the bonds of trust between international partners remain the true fuel accelerating technological transitions.

The foundations for interregional decarbonization are firmly laid; year one of EASTGATEH2V’s physical reality is officially underway.

The cross-border consortium linking Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy will present its infrastructure and industrial decarbonization solutions at the prestigious technical forum in Chemnitz.

The architecture of the European energy transition is not being drawn in isolation, but through interconnected nodes. Guided by this spirit of cooperation, the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley (NAHV) project will take a strategic step forward in internationalizing and replicating its model through its active participation in the HIC Colloquium. This specialized technical forum is embedded within the international HZwo Days conference, held in Chemnitz (Saxony), Germany, on June 9 and 10, 2026.

The NAHV project, born under the auspices of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and awarded the European Commission’s Seal of Excellence, has established itself as a leading cross-border initiative of its kind. Led by the Slovenian holding company HSE and backed by 37 public and private organizations from Slovenia, Croatia, and the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the consortium arrives in Germany with a clear objective: to demonstrate how the technical and regulatory integration of a regional ecosystem can serve as a blueprint for deploying future hydrogen valleys across Central and Southeastern Europe.

A Real-World Testbed for European Decarbonization

Unlike purely theoretical initiatives, NAHV stands out for its tangible dimension. With a roadmap aiming to produce more than 5,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year from clean sources, the project spans the entire value chain: from generation, storage, and local distribution, to direct application in heavy industry and heavy transport (both road and maritime).

The HIC Colloquium—organized by the Hydrogen Innovation Center (HIC)—serves as the ideal stage for this high-level energy engineering exchange. Technical debate sessions will analyze the challenges facing Technology Centers, an area where NAHV delivers distinct value through the implementation of its 17 cross-border pilot projects. These trials operate with the goal of raising Technology Readiness Levels (TRL), enabling the industrial-scale deployment of fuel cell-based solutions.

Regulatory Harmonization Under Debate

Consortium sources indicate that the participation in Saxony will not only highlight technical milestones but also address the regulatory bottlenecks currently slowing down the EU hydrogen market. The NAHV project has recently led national roundtables to define regulatory sandboxes, an indispensable tool for harmonizing the cross-border trade of hydrogen molecules. This mechanism will be a core focus of the debates with German technology experts.

Hydrogen valleys have evolved from local energy sovereignty projects into the vital arteries of the European Union’s decarbonized industrial fabric. The presence of the NAHV platform at the HZwo Days underscores the interest of major European industrial clusters in adopting proven cooperative models, accelerating a replicability that aims to firmly consolidate the development of the hydrogen economy across the continent.

The deployment of the green hydrogen economy across the European continent has entered its most pragmatic phase. The era of grand institutional announcements and long-term theoretical projections has given way to a starker reality: the critical need for project bankability and financial balance.

Among regional ecosystem developers, an unwritten law has emerged that captures the current bottleneck of the energy transition: there will be no Final Investment Decision (FID) without a robust, binding, and long-term hydrogen off-take contract.

Optimizing LCOH vs. Securing Private Capital

Developing a successful regional ecosystem requires a meticulous alignment of engineering, geographic planning, and economic metrics. Technical frameworks, such as the Project Development Assistance (PDA) provided by the Hydrogen Territories Platform (HTP), act as vital catalysts during the early stages. This specialized support helps project developers mature technical parameters, map regional infrastructure, and achieve LCOH optimization (Levelized Cost of Hydrogen).

Key Market Reality: Even the most optimized LCOH cannot close a financial round on its own; the European hydrogen project finance landscape remains highly risk-averse.

The Symbiotic Regional Pact

A territorial hydrogen valley is fundamentally more than a local production facility; it is a symbiotic regional pact between green generation and hard-to-abate industrial consumption. Industrial players in chemical refining, steel manufacturing, and heavy-duty transport must transition away from fossil fuels, yet they face market volatility and high technological premium costs.

Conversely, project developers cannot commit millions in capital expenditure to build electrolyzers and distribution networks without a guaranteed revenue stream. This chicken-and-egg scenario is exactly where many European Hydrogen Valleys stall.

Bridging the Gap to Financial Closing

For financial institutions and infrastructure funds, a signed hydrogen off-take contract is the ultimate proof of demand that mitigates commercialization risk. Without it, the capital required to reach FID remains locked.

HTP Project Development Assistance lays the foundation, builds the technical bridge, and optimizes the costs, but it is the committed industrial buyer who ultimately provides the green light to cross it. To accelerate Hydrogen Valleys in Europe, the primary focus of the sector must shift toward matching localized supply with creditworthy, long-term demand.

The European project Green Hysland has achieved a major decarbonisation milestone in island ecosystems with the commissioning of the first green hydrogen fuel cell installed in a hotel facility. Deployed at the Iberostar Waves Bahía de Palma in Mallorca, Spain, this operational system demonstrates how renewable hydrogen can effectively decarbonise energy-intensive hospitality operations in archipelagos and coastal territories.

The fuel cell unit processes at least eight tonnes of green hydrogen annually to produce low-emission thermal and electrical energy for daily hotel operations. The zero-emission vector is generated locally using solar photovoltaic power at the Lloseta hydrogen plant in Mallorca, jointly developed by ACCIONA Energía and Enagás Renovable. With this system active, the hotel expects to cover more than 70% of its thermal demand and over 20% of its total electricity consumption through renewable hydrogen.

Coordinated by Enagás Renovable and supported by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, the initiative brings together a consortium of over 30 international organizations. The goal is to deploy a full-chain renewable hydrogen economy in Mallorca—spanning production, transport, and multi-sector usage. This milestone builds upon existing regional infrastructure, including Spain’s first dedicated hydrogen pipeline built by Redexis, solidifying European Hydrogen Valleys as scalable living labs for continental energy transition.

The consolidation of Hydrogen Valleys across the European industrial landscape has shifted from a forward-looking ambition to a measurable reality. The Clean Hydrogen Partnership has unveiled the outcomes of its first Project Development Assistance (PDA) program, delivering an analytical blueprint that certifies the strategic advancement of 15 key regional initiatives across eight EU Member States and three countries associated with Horizon Europe.

Delivered in cooperation with specialized consultancies Roland Berger and Worley, the PDA program acted as a critical technical and commercial catalyst. Its primary objective was to equip project promoters with the rigorous tools needed to mature their concepts, mitigate multi-component risks, and bridge the gap toward a positive Final Investment Decision (FID).

A two-tiered methodology for european ecosystems

To address the varying degrees of maturity across regional clean energy clusters, the technical assistance was structured into two distinct work streams:

• PDA Light: Geared toward nine early-stage projects, facilitating the complex transition from initial baseline ideas to structured, resilient concepts.

• PDA Plus: Tailored for six advanced initiatives, focusing heavily on techno-economic viability, risk allocation, and the financial architecture required to attract private capital.

The comprehensive support addressed four core dimensions: commercial viability (offtake pipeline structuring and market pricing), technical optimization, European regulatory alignment, and complex governance models.

Key Impact Data: Participating projects successfully identified up to a 25% levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) optimization potential across more than ten distinct technical levers, while significantly refining CAPEX and OPEX cost structures.

Navigating the european regulatory maze

Beyond commercial validation and willingness-to-pay assessments, the report underscores the successful adaptation of these Hydrogen Valleys to the evolving EU legislative framework. Promoters utilized the program to align their long-term strategies with the strict mandates of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO) delegated acts, and sector-specific maritime and aviation regulations (FuelEU Maritime and ReFuelEU Aviation).

This regulatory synchronization is vital to establishing the legal certainty needed to de-risk institutional investments over the next decade. Furthermore, the program enabled promoters to establish robust governance models capable of managing complex ecosystems comprising more than 20 sub-projects.

Second call for applications now open

Coinciding with the publication of this landmark report, the Clean Hydrogen Partnership has officially opened the application window for its second PDA support cycle, accepting submissions until June 26. To deep-dive into the application process and support mechanisms, an online Information Day will be hosted tomorrow, Tuesday, May 19.

Detailed application guidelines and the official portal are accessible via pda.h2v.eu.

The transition toward a decarbonized economy is no longer a laboratory hypothesis; it is an industrial imperative. In the strategic heart of Aragon, the Aragon Hydrogen Foundation (FHa) has officially opened the call for the VI Edition of its Research Awards. This initiative serves as a vital bridge between academic rigor and the urgent demands of the European energy market.

Historically, brilliant investigations from Undergraduate, Master’s, and Doctoral programs remain dormant in digital archives. This call, supported by industrial giants Redexis, IDOM, and Ercros, aims to intercept that talent.

As the Hydrogen Territories Platform (HTP) expands, these awards identify the pioneers of the «Hydrogen Economy,» transforming theoretical breakthroughs into scalable industrial assets. The mission is clear: to ensure that the intellectual capital of today becomes the energy infrastructure of tomorrow.

To review the legal bases and submit your project, visit the Fundación Hidrógeno Aragón website.

The Clean Hydrogen Partnership has launched the second call of the Project Development Assistance (PDA), a programme designed to boost the development of Hydrogen Valleys across the European Union and Horizon Europe–associated countries. Following the success of the first edition, this new call offers up to 13 slots for specialised technical assistance, provided by the consultancy Roland Berger together with its technical partner Worley. pda.h2v.eu

A key opportunity for hydrogen projects in development

The PDA programme provides strategic support in four essential areas to help projects progress towards their Final Investment Decision (FID):
• Commercial aspects — from business models to financing.
• Technical aspects — process design, technology selection and cost estimation.
• Regulatory aspects — permits, certifications and public acceptance strategies.
• Valley governance — stakeholder coordination, planning and project management.

Support is offered in two formats:
• PDA Light (6 weeks) for early‑stage projects.
• PDA Plus (12 weeks) for more advanced valleys with conceptual studies already developed. pda.h2v.eu

Application deadline

The call is open until 26 June at 23:59 CET, and applications must be submitted exclusively through the programme’s official platform.

The Hydrogen Valleys Week 2026, recently held in Antwerp, has given new momentum to the international hydrogen valley community. After the event, and once all projects within the European platform updated their information, it was announced that a renewed and more comprehensive version of the official website will be published during the month of May: Hydrogen Valley Platform.

A richer platform to explore more than 106 Hydrogen Valleys

The update will include expanded and revised profiles of the more than 106 hydrogen valleys currently registered, offering deeper insight into their maturity levels, technologies used, key stakeholders, and recent progress. Each project has contributed new data to improve the quality and comparability of the information.

 More analysis, more clarity: new graphics and statistical insights

The new version will also feature a more complete statistical overview, presented through intuitive graphics that will make it easier to analyse trends, geographical distribution, project typologies, production capacities, and other key indicators of the European hydrogen ecosystem.

Among the elements that users will be able to explore are:

• Geographical distribution of the valleys.
• Predominant technologies in production, storage, and end uses.
• Project maturity levels.
• Stakeholders and governance structures of each valley.