Talking about hydrogen and fuel cells is also talking about the organizations in Europe that accelerate the adoption of this technology. One of them is Hydrogen Europe Research (HER), an international non–profit association composed of 91 universities and Research & Technology Organisations (RTO) from 26 countries all over Europe and beyond.
HER is one of the three participants of the European Joint Undertaking (JU) on Hydrogen, alongside its industry counterpart Hydrogen Europe (HE) and the European Commission. From 2008 to 2020, the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JUs (FCH JU & FCH 2 JU) have been unique public private partnerships supporting Research, Technological development and Demonstration (RTD) activities in fuel cell and hydrogen technologies in Europe. HER will continue to participate in the future Institutionalised European Partnership (IEP) on hydrogen, entitled Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (CH JU), from 2021 to 2027. Connected to a membership base strongly involved in skills and training, HER considers the topic as an essential aspect of the development of a hydrogen economy and is a partner in the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Observatory (FCHO).
The FCHO provides data (statistics, facts and analysis) and up to date information about the entire hydrogen sector, focusing on technology and market statistics, socio-economic indicators, policy and regulation, and financial support. Funded by the FCH JU, the observatory is created for the use of policy makers, industry stakeholders and the general public equally. You can take a look at its latest reports here.
From a more debate-focused perspective, The European Hydrogen Energy Conference (EHEC) is Europe’s conference of reference in the field of hydrogen energy. EHEC provides an excellent framework for updates on hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and represents the best setting to show the latest advances in research, projects and products. After the success of WHEC 2016 (www.whec2016.com) and last editions of EHEC (2005, 2014 and 2018), the Spanish Hydrogen Association (AeH2) has taken on the organisation of EHEC 2021 with the objective of continuing boosting the use of hydrogen technologies worldwide.
With all the backing of the European Commission also works the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance, an initiative that aims to place the EU in a position of global leadership in the deployment of hydrogen technologies, bringing together renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production, demand in industry, mobility and other sectors, and hydrogen transmission and distribution by 2030. The Alliance brings together industry, national and local public authorities, civil society and other stakeholders.