The AIHRE Project kicks off to boost the green hydrogen industry in Spain and Portugal

  • This initiative brings together nine partners including the CIDAUT Foundation, the Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA), the Universities of Seville, Oporto and Évora, the Galicia Institute of Technology (ITG), the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre (IPP), the Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering (INEGI) and the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA).
  • The project has been financed with 1.5 million euros under the third call of the Interreg VI-A Spain-Portugal Cross-Border Cooperation Programme (POCTEP) 2021-2027.

The AIHRE European project, ‘Analysis and Boosting of Renewable H2 in the POCTEP area’, has initiated its activities to accelerate the green hydrogen industry in different areas of Spain and Portugal. The initiative, which has been financed with 1.5 million euros under the third call of the Interreg VI-A Spain-Portugal Cross-Border Cooperation Programme (POCTEP) 2021-2027, counts on the participation of nine partners from the two countries, including universities, research centers and business clusters.  

AIHRE aims to create a technological and business network to harness the potential of green hydrogen generation at industrial level. The project will focus its actions in certain areas of Spain and Portugal, the so-called cooperation area or POCTEP area, which includes regions close to A Coruña, Valladolid, Huelva and Seville; and the Portuguese regions of Évora, Oporto and Portalegre. These areas stand out for their natural resources and conditions for electricity generation, as well as for a corporate structure made up of small and medium-sized businesses that could take advantage of the hydrogen technologies to be proposed in AIHRE.

In a firm commitment to industrial decarbonisation, the project will promote the emergence of value chains based on green hydrogen that drive economic development at local and regional levels. To this end, it will involve players from the quadruple helix in its activities, namely the scientific and academic community, political decision-makers, companies from sectors such as energy or mobility, and end users.

The AIHRE project counts on nine partners, five Spanish and four Portuguese, including CIDAUT Foundation, acting as coordinator, Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA), the Universities of Seville, Oporto and Évora, the Galicia Institute of Technology (ITG), the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre (IPP), the Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering (INEGI) and the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA). Starting in July 2023, the initiative has a duration of 36 months.  

Technological development

The analysis and development of technologies to incorporate value chains based on green hydrogen is a key element of the AIHRE project. This process will be undertaken in separate phases, ranging from the analysis of the current energy scenario to the generation of prototypes and business models.

Particularly, during a first stage, the needs of the green hydrogen value chain in the POCTEP area will be analysed, as well as the technologies available or relevant. To this end, two co-creation workshops will be organised, one in Spain and the second one in Portugal, where key players in the hydrogen value chain will be invited to participate. Later, models and algorithms will be designed for the management of green hydrogen systems, together with prototypes for their generation, transport, storage and use. In a final phase, the viability of the business models devised around the technologies developed will be assessed.

The tools and project outcomes shall be accessible to the public through the AIHRE website: www.aihre.eu

CIDAUT, a reference in hydrogen technologies

CIDAUT, a reference in hydrogen technologies.

Thanks to the knowledge, capabilities and experience that CIDAUT has in hydrogen technologies, we have participated in several conferences where we have contributed with our vision regarding the role of renewable hydrogen.

On January 23rd of this year, Banco Santander organized a conference on hydrogen in Castilla y León, in which CIDAUT was present with José Ignacio Domínguez. The event highlighted the opportunities that exist in the region to tackle projects related to renewable hydrogen, as it has the renewable resource, technological capacity and business initiatives to carry them out.

The renewable hydrogen economy involves a series of challenges and opportunities that the actors involved in the hydrogen value chain have to face.

FaCyL, the Automotive and Mobility Cluster of Castilla y León, analyzed the impact of European emissions regulations on heavy vehicles on Friday, January 26 in Valladolid. This took place within the framework of the first session of the 2024 Think Tank ‘Challenges for the Future of the Automotive Industry in Castilla y León’, an initiative promoted by Polo de la Automoción, the sectoral brand developed by the cluster.

This first session of Polo de la Automoción’s 2024 Think Tank also served for the sharing, through a collaborative dynamic in which the attendees participated, of the challenges faced by automotive and mobility companies in Castilla y León at this time. The new form of mobility and the underpinning of the sector as one of the references of the economy of Castilla y León were three of the issues highlighted in this strategic reflection of the automotive and mobility of the autonomous community.

The participation of CIDAUT, as a reference center in intelligent, connected and sustainable mobility, served to emphasize the decarbonizing role of renewable hydrogen, especially in heavy transport.

Fundación CIDAUT will attend JEC World 2024

Fundación CIDAUT will attend JEC World 2024 from 5th to 7th March as a member of the Osiris Network (Gaiker, Aimplas, Aitex and Fundación CIDAUT). Osiris Network will participate as an exhibitor in #PabellónEspañaV – Hall 6 H108, organised by AEMAC – Spanish Association of Composite Materials.

At the stand of Osiris Network, representatives of the four technology centres (Gaiker, Aimplas, Aitex and Fundación Cidaut) will exhibit and will introduce the developments in the field of recycling of composite plastic materials and solutions for the revaluation of composite materials that have been carried out in the three years of the project, with the aim of showing the progress and research and transferring these solutions to interested industrial companies.

In addition, Fundación CIDAUTA will attend as coordinator of the ESTELLA European project. The aim of ESTELLA is to obtain recyclable thermostable biocomposites from new materials, such as recyclable thermostable resins and natural fibres. The recyclability of these biocomposites will be investigated through chemical, mechanical and biological recycling processes that can be used to produce new materials from composite waste. ESTELLA has reached the halfway point of its duration and the JEC is therefore a great opportunity to learn about the project’s objectives and its main advances.

Boosting the hydrogen economy as one of CIDAUT’s challenges.

CIDAUT continues with the dissemination of the interesting opportunities offered by the use of hydrogen technologies in different fields such as aerospace, military land vehicles or in biogas generation facilities.

The 16th International Bioenergy Congress was held in Valladolid on October 3 and 4 together with the Renewable Gas Exhibition, organized by AVEBIOM. Within this congress CIDAUT had the opportunity to present the Colhibri project. This project, approved in the first call for projects PERTE ERHA incentive program 4 of the IDAE, is a research for the development of new systems for the production of electrical and thermal energy based on H2 technologies that constitute a more efficient and cleaner alternative to the current cogenerations based on biogas combustion in combustion engines (RICE), as well as achieving an advantageous solution both in investment costs and operating costs.

On November 7, MFM Academy organized an event at the Getafe Market space entitled “Hydrogen in the aerospace sector”. José Ignacio Domínguez, project manager of the Energy area of CIDAUT, on behalf of AeH2, participated in the table dedicated to the use of hydrogen in mobility, discussing with the rest of the speakers on the current situation and prospects for the use of H2 in mobility in Spain, as well as focusing on the key points to work on to promote the introduction of the use of this decarbonizing energy vector in the transport sector.

Regarding the use of technologies in the Defense sector, CIDAUT had the opportunity to participate in the X National Congress of R&D in Defense and Security (DESEi+d 2023), which took place in the Marine Infantry School “General Albacete y Fuster” (EIMGAF), located in Cartagena, during the 14th, 15th and 16th of November 2023. During the presentation, the working approach of the PCVEMI project was presented, which focuses on the development of a propulsion system based on a national fuel cell for use in military land vehicle platforms.

The AIHRE project is ready to take off

Last 17th of November we celebrated the official KoM of the AIHRE project ‘Analysis and Promotion of Renewable H2 in the POCTEP region’ at the premises of CIDAUT, coordinator of the project.

AIHRE is a 3-year project funded with 1.5 million euros by the Interreg Spain – Portugal Programme (POCTEP). Its objective is the creation of a new cooperation network for research and transfer in the design, operation, management and integration of energy systems based on renewable hydrogen of great interest for implementation in the Poctep area in Spain and Portugal. This network will promote the economic development of the POCTEP region around the green hydrogen value chain in industry. To this end, the AIHRE project aims at strengthening and consolidating research capacities in the POCTEP territory, identifying solutions for the application of renewable hydrogen value chains and promoting knowledge and tools for the implementation of a renewable hydrogen economy in the Poctep area.

The consortium is made up of nine partners, 5 Spanish: CIDAUT, CTA (Technological Corporation of Andalusia), University of Seville, National Institute of Aerospace Technology “Esteban Terradas”, ITG Technological Institute of Galicia and 4 Portuguese: INEGI, University of Porto, University of Évora and Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre. It is a highly complementary network including universities, technology centres and business clusters.

The kick-off meeting started with a brief presentation of each of the entities and a review of the objectives, tasks and results pursued by the project, as well as a review of the timeline for its achievement.

After the meeting, the consortium visited the CIDAUT facilities for the development of hydrogen technologies HyCid.

You can follow the AIHRE progress on our social media and soon on our website to learn more about this exciting initiative. AIHRE is ready to power green hydrogen!