It seems that the desire to share experiences and knowledge about hydrogen has not diminished during this time. After the break caused by the pandemic, events related to hydrogen are stronger than ever and occupy a relevant place. In this sense, CIDAUT has had the opportunity to attend several of those that have already taken place and those that are coming soon.
The Extraordinary General Assembly of the Spanish Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform (PTE HPC) was held on 29th April, in which CIDAUT was present. The aim of this Assembly was to ratify a series of changes in the focus and orientation of the Platform with a view to the new Call for Technology Platforms 2023-2024 and to inform the attending members, through the participation of three public bodies, about the open or upcoming calls of interest for the hydrogen sector.
Experts from more than 40 companies analysed the levers of renewable hydrogen on 30 March in Gasnam. José Ignacio Domínguez attended this session representing CIDAUT and all of attendees agreed that hydrogen can contribute to Spain reaching its climate objectives, although it will be necessary to break down some barriers. They talked about increasing the intensity of the funding included in the national calls for proposals and removing some obstacles, such as, for example, receiving funding against final certification. The need to categorise the project as R&D&I by a certifier, to extend the object of the subsidy to network injection projects and to blending in combustion engines was also mentioned. The need to develop a regulatory framework that allows renewable hydrogen to be treated as a fuel of general interest and not just as a mere chemical product was discussed. Another of the barriers discussed was that the injection of hydrogen into the grid is a necessary lever, and therefore the implementation of real experiences to validate the technology should be promoted. Among other barriers, the urgency of the implementation of the Guarantees of Origin mechanism for renewable gases was also mentioned.
Last 4th of May a Practical Workshop on the PERTE on Energy, Renewable Hydrogen and Storage (PERTE ERHA) took place in CIDAUT. In this workshop, representatives of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) through IDAE (Santiago González Herráiz) and CIUDEN (Miguel Angel Delgado) informed about the recent PERTE ERHA call. On behalf of CIDAUT, Jose Ignacio Dominguez made a presentation about the Future of H2 technologies and CIDAUT’s developments and Alvaro Villarino presented the Centratec3 Programme. The event was held both in person and online and was followed by more than 30 regional entities, which indicates the interest in this topic.
Last but not least, the European Hydrogen Energy Conference (EHEC 2022) will be held in Madrid on 18, 19 and 20 May. This conference is the European conference of reference in the field of hydrogen energy. EHEC was identified in Spain’s 2020 Hydrogen Roadmap as one of the measures to position Spain as a benchmark for these technologies in Europe. EHEC provides an excellent framework for upgrading hydrogen energy technologies. It will bring together the latest advances in research and business related to hydrogen.
On this edition, CIDAUT will participate with two oral presentations and a poster. Additionally, CIDAUT will be part of the Side Event organised by the Spanish Hydrogen Technology Platform, which will be attended by Jose Ignacio Dominguez. Miguel Castaños will speak on “Multi-zone thermodynamic model for the design of piston compressors for hydrogen at high pressures” and Elena Castilla will present on “Analysis of the integration of bioethanol production plants with bioethanol steam reforming processes to produce hydrogen”. The poster by Marcos Sánchez will deal with “Effect of air temperature on steady-state ammonia combustion by diffusion”.