Information event on hydrogen with and for Visegrad Four countries: Searching for synergies

The information event on hydrogen with and for Visegrad Four countries was organized by the Brussels based liaison offices of the V4 countries the National Research Development and Innovation Office of Hungary (NRDIO), the Czech Liaison Office for Education and Research (CZELO), the Polish Science Contact Agency of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PolSCA) and the Slovak Liaison Office for Research and Development (SLORD) on 8 February 2022. The online event was attended by almost 200 participants.

The keynote presentation of Bart Biebuyck, Executive Director of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership was followed by two panel discussions. The first panel was built around European initiatives like the Partnership itself, the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance, the IPCEI on hydrogen, the green hydrogen ERA pilot, the Breakthrough Energy Catalyst Fund and the Green Hydrogen Acceleration Centre of the EIT InnoEnergy KIC. The second panel was showcasing hydrogen strategies, programmes and initiatives in the V4 countries.

The objective of the information event was to reach a wide range of interested V4 stakeholders representing policy, research and industry about national and European programmes, to make them aware of various possibilities and funding opportunities and to start building up new contacts and to find novel ways of cooperation.

Ján Weiterschütz, President of the Slovak National Hydrogen Association, presented the latest development in Slovakia. The National Hydrogen Association (NVAS) was established in 2015 as a joint initiative of individuals and legal entities to promote research, deployment and use of new technologies that actively use hydrogen and fuel cells. NVAS supports hydrogen technologies in the transition to a low carbon economy. The National Hydrogen Strategy was published in June 2021 and development continues with the preparation of an Action Plan and Roadmap for the use of hydrogen in Slovakia by 2030.

On this occasion, research and innovation as well as educational activities in the field of hydrogen in the Košice region were also presented. Maroš Halama, Vice Dean for Research, Innovation and International Relations at the Technical University of Košice and member of several expert groups in the field of hydrogen and green technologies, stressed that hydrogen will benefit society when industry, universities, investors, research institutes and political representatives come together to build knowledge and safety of this technology. The Košice region and the Technical University of Košice itself are very active players in the field of hydrogen, also at European level.

The recording about the event is available on YouTube and the slides of the speakers/panelists can be downloaded below.