Italy – ENEA is investing €14 million in the creation of the first ‘Italian Hydrogen Valley’ on the outskirt of Rome.
The Italian Hydrogen Valley will develop a national supply chain for production, transport, storage and use of hydrogen, focusing on research, technologies, infrastructures and innovative services.
The project provides for the construction of an ensemble of hi-tech infrastructures for research and experimentation in the hydrogen supply chain, at the ENEA Casaccia Research Center.
The ENEA hub will make it possible to experiment with new technologies for hydrogen generation, for example by using waste and medium-high temperature renewable heat produced by concentrated solar plants.
Hydrogen decarbonizing mobility
Inside the incubator, electricty will be generated using pure hydrogen and natural gas/hydrogen mixture. A hydrogen refueling station will be installed to power the goods movement vehicles, buses and cars in use at the ENEA Research Center, to help showing how this fuel can contribute to decarbonize the mobility sector.
Among the most interesting applications that will be studied at the Hydrogen Valley is power-to-gas, a process converting renewable energy into hydrogen through electrolysis. The hydrogen produced can be converted into methane or fed into the internal natural gas grid, making it possible to store the energy produced from renewable sources, helping “stabilize” the power grid and acting as a connecting element between power and gas grid, in anticipation of a strong growth of renewables.
New collaboration agreement
ENEA and the Ministry of Economic Development signed a collaboration agreement to jointly develop activities and initiatives for coordinating industry, national research and PA in the effort to create an Italian hydrogen supply chain, seizing the great opportunity offered by the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI).
In particular, ENEA will contribute by providing technical-scientific studies, analyses, consultancy and assistance to support the MiSE start-up, manage and complete the IPCEI, also through participation in working groups, commissions, national and European committees and round tables, preparation of technical-scientific opinions for the implementation of the IPCEI regulation and support in the preparation of annual reports.
