Slovenia launches low-carbon hydrogen consortium

The Government of Slovenia supported the establishment of a consortium of 18 companies, organizations and municipalities for an ecosystem for hydrogen from low-carbon sources. The group said it has 6,500 experts available from various fields and decades of experience in industrial engineering.

Hydrogen technology is emerging with its potential for storing energy from renewables and nuclear power plants, to be converted back to energy, including for transportation, or used in industrial processes. The Slovenia-Japan Business Council, the Slovenian Academy of Engineering (IAS or SAE) and ELES, the country’s electricity transmission and distribution system operator, formed a consortium of stakeholders.

Eighteen companies, organizations and municipalities vowed to engage in cross-sector integration to develop the value chain for hydrogen from low-carbon sources. The group said it has 6,500 experts available from various fields and decades of experience in industrial engineering.

The remaining partners are Holding Slovenske elektrarne (HSE), GEN Group, Elektro Gorenjska, Elektro Ljubljana, Plinovodi, Petrol, Energetika Ljubljana, Talum, Slovenske železnice Group (Slovenian Railways), TPV Automotive, Solvera Lynx, BTC, the City of Ljubljana, City of Kranj and the Municipality of Ajdovščina. Four ministries expressed support for the effort.

Low-carbon hydrogen consortium seeking partners in Japan

Minister of Environment, Climate and Energy Bojan Kumer stressed the role of hydrogen in the decarbonization of the economy and highlighted the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley project. The European Commission and Hydrogen Europe association also supported the idea of a consortium, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Igor Papič said. Slovenia would like partners from Japan to join, he revealed.

The initiative is aimed at building a low-carbon hydrogen ecosystem through demonstration projects, power grid infrastructure, capacities in the gas transmission and distribution system for blending hydrogen with natural gas, electricity generation and storage and hydrogen consumption. It will require a partner to manufacture hydrogen equipment.

North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley becomes national development project

The members see opportunities in introducing hydrogen city buses and utility vehicles, setting up hydrogen filling stations for commercial transportation and installing storage tanks for hydrogen or a mixture with fossil gas. They said they could upgrade gas turbines or install new ones for combined heat and power production from hydrogen. It can be used for district heating and aviation, the consortium underscored.

In other news, the Government of Slovenia included the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley or NAHV in its development plan for the period until 2027. Seventeen pilot projects are underway in the country and in neighboring Croatia and Italy’s Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.

The aim is to develop facilities for the production of at least 5,000 tons of green hydrogen per year alongside storage, distribution and consumption systems. The three countries are expected to benefit from some of the major hydrogen corridors that are seen traversing Europe.

Companies, research centers, universities and other stakeholders established the National Hydrogen Association of Slovenia last year.