Published 5/9/2025

Clean Hydrogen Partnership announces 26 new projects

Awarding €154.6 million in grants, the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking aims to accelerate development and deployment of hydrogen technologies across Europe.

Edited by: Ginger Gardiner

Senior Technical Editor, CompositesWorld

The Clean Hydrogen Partnership has announced the award of €154.6 million in grants through its 2024 Call to date, supporting 26 projects that aim to accelerate the development and deployment of hydrogen technologies across Europe. These projects address key challenges in hydrogen production, storage, distribution and application, all in an effort to enhance the European Union’s industrial competitiveness and advancing hydrogen technology readiness.

Covering the entire hydrogen value chain, the projects bring together partners from 33 countries, fostering research collaboration and innovation that the Clean Hydrogen Partnership says will reshape energy systems across key sectors — from industry to transport and stationary applications.

A strong focus is placed on scaling up green hydrogen technologies, with several projects exploring innovative methods such as seawater electrolysis, the integration of solid oxide electrolysis cells into steelmaking operations, and continuous improvements in electrolyzer performance. Projects such as SWEETHY, SYRIUS, DELYCIOUS, ASTERISK, PEPPER, and HyPrAEM, ENDURION and HySEas are at the forefront of these innovations.

Composites and hydrogen

Type 4 hydrogen pressure vessels use carbon fiber-reinforced composites to provide lightweight storage onboard trucks, buses, ships and rail vehicles as well as in distribution and refueling modules. Read about Hexagon Purus’ fully automated, composites 4.0 production line in Kassel, Germany.

Composites are also being used in hydrogen pipes for distribution. Read about Hive Composites’ development of thermoplastic composite pipes that reduce CO₂ emissions by 59% versus steel pipes.

In the area of hydrogenstorage and distribution, projects are exploring advanced approaches such as solid-state storage with metal hydrides, improved purification and separation technologies, and underground hydrogen storage. REMEDHYS, Hermes and HyDRA are among the projects focused on developing safer, more efficient and scalable infrastructure.

On the utilization side, innovation continues in developing liquid hydrogen fuel systems for maritime transport and hydrogen propulsion technologies in shipping, represented by NAVHYS and CleanH2Shipping. Other initiatives, like BeBoP and H2UpScale, are optimizing critical fuel cell components, including air compression and humidification systems, to improve the efficiency of hydrogen-powered heavy-duty vehicles.

Two stationary projects include InsigH2T, which examines pressure effects on hydrogen flames in turbines, and RESCUE, which develops a 50-kilowatt fuel cell system using hydrogen or methanol.

Beyond technical advancements, several projects emphasize sustainability, safety, and environmental impact. Projects like GUESS-Why, PROMISERS, FASTCH2ANGE and ECOPEM are developing frameworks and tools to ensure the responsible and resilient deployment of hydrogen technologies.

The Partnership has also launched five new Hydrogen Valleys receiving a combined grant of €57.5 million:

HI2 Valley, covering the industrial regions of Upper Austria, Styria and Carinthia.
CyLH2Valley, a large-scale Hydrogen Valley in Spain’s Castilla y León Region, integrating hydrogen use in mobility, industry and energy.
HySPARK based in Poland, aims to develop a hydrogen ecosystem focused on airports and public transport.
EASTGATEH2V which will establish a comprehensive hydrogen ecosystem in the Košice region of Slovakia.
Hyceland, located in Iceland, marks the northernmost Hydrogen Valley in the network.

These join the existing network amounting to a total of 21 Hydrogen Valleys, supported by approximately €253.3 million, with an expected leverage of more than €1.3 billion in additional public and private investments.

According to the Partnership, its 2025 Call recently closed, attracting 212 proposals across 19 diverse topic areas. With €184.5 million in available funding, the organization believes this strong level of interest highlights the research and industry sectors’ strong alignment with the Clean Hydrogen Partnership’s strategic objective.