Porto hosted the interregional workshop ‘Strategies for the transition to renewable hydrogen in the POCTEC area’organised by the Instituto de Ciência e Inovação em Engenharia Mecânica e Engenharia Industrial (INEGI), partner of the AIHRE project.
The event, held on 9 May, was attended by 60 professionals, experts and representatives of companies and institutions.The meeting allowed to share practical knowledge, explore needs and priorities in the renewable hydrogen (H2) sector that is developing in the cross-border area of Spain and Portugal.
During the workshop, participants analysed the needs and priorities for the deployment of renewable hydrogen in Portugal as a reference energy source, as well as the competences and capacities available in the POCTEP region.In addition, opportunities for linkages with applications, existing strategies and roadmaps, and barriers and opportunities for hydrogen market deployment were discussed.
The programme comprised different dynamics that combined talks and presentations by institutional, research and business figures from Portugal, together with debates and collective participation methods to draw conclusions on the current situation of renewable hydrogen in the POCTEP area.
The conference counted with the participation of INEGI, the intervention of CIDAUT as coordinator of AIHRE and the experience of representatives of the sector, who presented the current situation of the sector in Portugal, as well as success stories and proposed solutions for the implementation of green hydrogen throughout its value chain.
Licensing, the key to H2
In the workshop, rapid response dynamics were carried out, both in digital format and in post its, to find out the participants' opinions on different topics related to the green hydrogen value chain. When asked which areas need more regulation for hydrogen deployment, almost 50% of the participants pointed to licensing, followed by production and consumption (25%). The market, training, financing and the area of consumption were not mentioned by the majority of participants (8% of responses in each category).
In terms of which hydrogen projects should be prioritised Power-to-industry is the most popular (64%), followed by Power-to-gas (14%), Power-to-mobility, Power-to-Synfuel and Power-to-power (7% of responses in each category)..
‘The workshop allowed to understand what is being done at the state level, ensuring that the existing knowledge exchange reached the participants linked to companies operating in the green hydrogen value chain. Only by sharing knowledge and creating links among organisations will it be possible to generate a catalytic effect that will foster the development of the hydrogen market which, as we can see, already exists today,’ said the INEGI representatives as a balance of the meeting.
The first workshop of the AIHRE project not only fulfilled its objectives of fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration among organisations, but also provided a platform for participants to discuss regulatory needs and prioritise the types of projects that should be pursued in the future. The high participation and interest shown reflects the growing recognition of renewable hydrogen as a crucial component in the energy transition in the POCTEP region.
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