The Green Tank, as a member of the Monitoring Committee of the Just Development Transition Program 2021-27, voted positively in the 6th Written Procedure of the Committee regarding the Green HiPo project. This is a project that is part of the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) in the field of the value chain of hydrogen technologies.
The project will develop, design and manufacture high-performance HTPEM-type fuel cells for power and heat generation, with possible diffusion into the transport sector. It includes the following areas: a) low-carbon hydrogen production, where emphasis will be placed on hydrogen from renewable sources and its derivatives, b) equipment manufacturing (including electrolytes, etc.) and c) industrial hydrogen applications. The project has a total eligible budget of €60 million, of which €24 million is public expenditure financed by the 2021-2027 Regional Development Plan (40% aid intensity rate) and is expected to create 23 new jobs.
Adding the resources of €24 million for Green HiPo to those of the rest of the approved actions from the start of the implementation of the Program (October 2022) until today, resources with a total value of €791.8 million or 48.6% of the total size of the fund (€1.63 billion) have been mobilized. In addition, for a part of the specialized actions amounting to €419.5 million, the corresponding invitations have been published, while of these, actions amounting to €178.2 million have progressed to the integration stage.
Hydrogen production is undeniably necessary for the decarbonisation of “hard” sectors of the economy, such as industry and transport of heavy vehicles. For this reason, the Green Tank approved the Green HiPo project, while also submitting concerns and proposals concerning:
- The assurance that the hydrogen to be produced will come exclusively from Renewable Energy Sources (green H2) and any use of fossil fuels for its production will be excluded.
- The clarification as to where the electricity produced by the hydrogen fuel cells will be used, noting that the well-to-wheel efficiency of using green hydrogen for electric cars is very low, and, hence, not recommended.
- The need for more information about the site where the project will be constructed, especially in the absence of information about the progress of the corresponding Special Urban Plans.
- The balanced distribution of financial resources between different storage technologies (batteries, pumped storage and hydrogen) in the direction given by the Greek NECP noting that, so far, the Just Development Transition Program has only funded hydrogen projects.
You can read Green Tank’s comments in detail here (in Greek).
