The Marche Region (Italy) is taking a strong step toward sustainable energy, with the goal of gradually decarbonizing the economy through the introduction of hydrogen (Hydrogen Valleys).
Given that the Ministry for Ecological Transition (MITE) is about to issue a request for proposals to identify projects eligible for special funding under the funding line of the National Research Program dedicated to hydrogen, Mirco Carloni, vice president of the Marche Region and Councillor for Energy, has decided to be prepared.
“I had a notice published inviting enterprises to express interest in applying for funding under the ministerial call for Hydrogen Technologies and Systems for the Marche Region,” Carloni adds. This approach was chosen during a December meeting between MITE and the Regions and Autonomous Provinces to demonstrate the requirements under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (measure M2C2 – Investment 3.1: Hydrogen production on brownfield sites)”.
“Also in December,” Carloni continues, “the Marche Region met with trade associations and the Regional Committee for Energy Policies to prepare the regional territory for the formulation of hydrogen project proposals and to kick off a participatory process that would enable us to quickly identify brownfields that meet the MITE eligibility criteria.”
At the conclusion of these meetings, we immediately began work on the decree to be addressed to businesses (small, medium, and large) that will now be required to express their interest, bearing in mind that the investment line aims to promote local hydrogen production and use, as well as economic development of brownfield sites.
It should be noted that the call for expressions of interest, which closes on February 20, 2022, does not include any financial support: the company’s proposed project may be financed by the State only upon the publication of the national call for tenders for the PNRR.