Attendees were able to learn more about three significant advances, such as the start-up of Petronor’s 2.5MW electrolyser, Irizar’s first long-distance bus prototype and the incorporation of the Calvera company into the EIC. Among other presentations, the meeting was also attended by the Deputy Minister for Vocational Training of the Basque Government, as well as the EVE and Orkestra, who presented a study on the potential of industrial hydrogen consumption and the development of its ecosystem in the Basque Country.
On 3 November, the Energy Intelligence Center (EIC) in Abanto hosted a new day of the Hydrogen Sector Forum, which brought together the main agents in the hydrogen value chain in the Basque Country, with more than 100 attendees. The forum is coordinated by PETRONOR and organised by the Basque Energy Cluster in collaboration with the associations ACICAE, ACLIMA, Mobility and Logistics Cluster, FLUIDEX, FMV, HEGAN, MAFEX and SIDEREX.
The conference included a technological block in which five of the main R&D initiatives underway in the Basque Country were presented:
– PERTE H2SALT (Development of Underground Hydrogen Storage Solutions in Salt Caverns, by Team Ingeniería)
– HAZITEK AVOGADRO (Advanced Renewable Hydrogen Gas Refuelling System for Mobility Applications, by Iberdrola)
– ELKARTEK ONTZHI (Key Technologies for Hydrogen Storage and Transport, by Tecnalia)
– ELKARTEK H2MAT (Multi-Layer Hybrid Metal Structures for use in contact with Hydrogen, by Tecnalia)
– AEI HYPCOAT (Gaseous Hydrogen Storage Systems with Pressure Resistant Coatings, by Inalia)
Afterwards, the Basque Energy Cluster reviewed the internationalisation activities carried out in recent months, with special mention of the business mission to Japan, carried out in collaboration with Basque Trade & Investment. He also presented the main internationalisation initiatives planned for the coming months, such as joint participation in EHEC Bilbao 2024 and the World Hydrogen Summit & Exhibition 2024 in Rotterdam. H2MAT, has been and will be present in all these activities.