Cantabria has officially joined the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance, promoted by the European Union with the aim of achieving an “ambitious” deployment of hydrogen technologies by 2030, boosting renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production, demand in industry, mobility and other sectors, and hydrogen distribution.
This has been reported by the Government in a statement, in which it explained that the Alliance brings together industry, national and public authorities, civil society, as well as other actors, in order to build in this area a global leadership of the European Union and support its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
The adhesion of Cantabria to the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance has been materialized at the initiative of the Ministry of Industry and Innovation of the Government of Cantabria, promoter in turn of the Hydrogen Technology Platform of Cantabria, which includes companies and research centers of the Autonomous Community and currently brings together 55 entities.
The Minister of Industry, Javier Lopez Marcano, stressed that membership in the European Hydrogen Alliance can “serve as a magnet” to attract projects and investments to Cantabria, and can provide members of the Hydrogen Platform the opportunity to collaborate and work hand in hand with other European agents and to establish “important partnerships with other entities outside our hinterland”.
Lopez Marcano has drawn attention to the significant volume of investment that is expected in this area at national and international level and noted that the Ministry has promoted the creation of the Hydrogen Platform precisely to create an “ecosystem” that allows Cantabria to become “a pole of technological development” in all areas of the value chain of renewable hydrogen.
“We have to aspire to be highly competitive in research, technological development and manufacturing of technologies linked to clean hydrogen,” he remarked. It is a matter, he said, of joining efforts to develop knowledge-based technology, overcome barriers, focus developments on real market actions and reach competitive levels of technology to export it and generate returns.
Lopez Marcano recalled that hydrogen has been identified in the European and national context as a key element to achieve the objectives set out in the European Green Pact and achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
He stressed that driving the development of hydrogen, which still needs to mature and be progressively deployed to reach large-scale applications, requires a critical mass of actors, initiatives and investment, with continuous research and innovation in cutting-edge technologies and to bring new solutions to the market.
Hydrogen has various energy and non-energy applications, from renewable energy storage to heavy fuel transport, and as energy or feedstock for energy-intensive industry, such as in the steel and chemical sectors.
Hydrogen strategy
The Regional Hydrogen Strategy in Cantabria has six objectives: to implement this gas in public transport fleets in the short and medium term; to expand the production and distribution of renewable hydrogen; to improve energy efficiency in buildings; to maximize the participation of industry; to promote technology transfer; to collaborate with research centers and academic institutions; and to disseminate and raise awareness of the opportunities offered by this technology.
