More green hydrogen for the Alpine region

From Slovenia to France, passing through Trentino: the AMETHyST project promotes the production and use of green hydrogen in the Alpine regions. An experience of transnational cooperation oriented towards energy transition and innovation

In the search for solutions to produce energy more sustainably and use it more efficiently, the development of technologies based on "green" hydrogen is probably one of the ways to go. For a couple of years, this has been the subject of, among others, AMETHyST, a transnational project born within the Interreg  Alpine Space cooperation  programme , supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

We interviewed one of the people involved: Eleonora Cordioli, researcher at the research centre for sustainable energy  of the Bruno Kessler Foundation in Trento.

What does the AMETHyST project deal with and which regions and actors does it involve?

AMETHyST mainly deals with supporting the creation of so-called "alpine ecosystems" based on green hydrogen, that is, that which is obtained from renewable energy sources. The pilot projects carried out by the AMETHyST partners include the creation of preliminary technical-economic analyses for the study and implementation of green hydrogen technologies in the Alpine area. AMETHyST also offers support to local authorities from a strategic and political point of view, thanks to the definition of guidelines that help them in energy planning and in the development of policies for the implementation of green hydrogen.

There are ten partners, including four Italian ones (Bruno Kessler Foundation and the energy agencies of the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano and the Friuli Venezia Giulia region), two French, one Swiss, one Austrian, one German and one Slovenian [the Energy and Climate Agency of Podravje, ed.]. By pushing these actors to collaborate, the project creates connections between the different territories so as to share experiences, knowledge and good practices regarding the use of green hydrogen, in order to solve common problems and promote the decarbonisation of the Alpine arc. This is facilitated by the fact that these territories share similar geographical characteristics and are tourist locations.

What results do you expect to achieve and what concrete benefits will the project bring to the regions involved?

Through a series of questionnaires, roundtables and events involving a range of local stakeholders, we are trying to understand the role that green hydrogen can play in the Alpine area. We have catalogued the state of the art in the territories in question and are developing a tool that will allow local authorities and communities to evaluate the possibilities of their territory with regard to the implementation of green hydrogen technologies, depending on the resources available.

Developed by the Energy Agency of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the tool will be able to estimate, for example, the quantity of hydrogen that could be produced if a photovoltaic system of a certain power were installed, and to estimate the emissions that this would save if it were to replace certain existing systems, now powered by fossil fuels. The tool will also be able to estimate costs and technologies to be used.

Furthermore, some pilot projects that we are carrying out in ski resorts in Trentino, Friuli and in the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes involve replacing snowmobiles, currently powered by diesel, with new vehicles powered by hydrogen. Other projects intend to exploit the surplus electricity production of hydroelectric plants to produce hydrogen to be used to power snowmobiles, buses or other vehicles.

One of the objectives of these projects is also to connect local stakeholders to encourage them to share knowledge, initiatives and ideas, in order to stimulate the birth of a shared hydrogen economy. With this in mind, we are creating an online map to catalogue all the projects that deal with the production, use and transport of green hydrogen in the Alpine region. The map will make it possible to easily identify the clusters and facilitate contacts between the various projects and stakeholders.

What are the most urgent needs that concern the territories involved by the project, but also those that could emerge in the medium-long term?

Through the experience of the roundtables we have noticed that one of the most urgent needs is precisely that of connecting local actors. For example, there is a need for dialogue between companies and local authorities to ensure that they mutually understand how the former move from the point of view of technology production and the latter from the administrative and regulatory point of view.

What is really missing is harmonisation at the regulatory level: companies often find themselves struggling because the hydrogen market is not yet properly regulated - especially with regard to safety standards - and this makes the concrete implementation of this type of technology difficult.

Taking a further step back, we can say that there is not even a real market of supply and demand for green hydrogen. This is because it remains difficult to establish interconnections between those who produce, or could produce, hydrogen, and those who could use it. In this sense, the European Union will play a fundamental role, facilitating the creation of a European market which in turn would then be divided into national and local scales. Projects like AMETHyST are working in this direction.

Once AMETHyST is concluded, what possibilities do you see for the continuation of these efforts?

Since AMETHyST mainly deals with pre-feasibility studies through its pilot projects, it would be interesting if these could follow their natural development, which would include a subsequent phase of real feasibility study and then the final implementation. I also hope that the project and the results obtained will prove useful to stimulate the design of new similar projects in the future.