Green Hydra

There is an urgent need for carbon abatement solutions at scale and the green hydrogen industry is ‘a lifebuoy of hope’.

Green hydrogen is expected to play an important role in achieving EU objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 55% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050. Achieving these ambitious objectives requires transformational change and the full mobilisation of industry.

As the adoption of green hydrogen increases in large corporations, with a green hydrogen market worth $11 trillion by 2050, it is also becoming essential to engage SME’s, forming 99% of businesses in Europe, as part of the process.

Although the economic complexity of the infrastructure may act as an impediment for SMEs, they could become an important component of the green hydrogen growth engine if they are supported in the domain of ancillaries around the green hydrogen ecosystem.

Investments in research and development, and in pilot projects, are growing considerably as countries and regions seek to take a leading role in the green hydrogen economy. This will have high potential to boost economic development, competitiveness and job creation. Therefore, public authorities together with other quadruple-helix players should look to improve support policies and initiatives for ensure linking green hydrogen development with SMEs.

Thereby, it will be crucial to further shape up, develop and master different levels’ policies for facilitating the participation of SMEs in local, regional and national green hydrogen economies.

Green Hydra will intervene on improving local, regional and national policies in 10 EU regions – from front-runner regions to lagging regions – to plan and establish support initiatives and measures for green hydrogen development business opportunities for SMEs, from research programmes to development strategies, awareness-raising schemes, and pilot investments especially focused on involvement of SMEs across the whole hydrogen value chain, including R&D, engineering, manufacturing, consultancy, design.

The purpose of the project:

Green Hydra will engage in improving local, regional and national policies in 10 EU regions, from leading regions to lagging regions, to plan and build support initiatives and measures for green hydrogen development business opportunities for SMEs, from research programs to development strategies, awareness-raising schemes and pilot investments , specifically targeting the involvement of SMEs throughout the hydrogen value chain, including R&D, engineering, manufacturing, consulting and design.

• Study the conditions for the use of green hydrogen in the main sectors involving SMEs;
• Identification of possible key factors to activate the involvement of SMEs in the green hydrogen value chain;
• Support the creation of a production chain involving SMEs;
• Developing new skills, knowledge and communication in green hydrogen SMEs;
• Facilitate SMEs’ access to finance in the field of green hydrogen;
• Scaling up innovation in SMEs related to green hydrogen products and services.