The European Commission says it has started working on a new pilot mechanism, and Italy has agreed to expand collaboration with Austria and Germany, while also supporting cooperation between Italian companies and Finland's Wärtsilä.
The European Commission has started working on a pilot mechanism to collect, process, and provide access to information on the demand and supply of renewable, low-carbon hydrogen, and derivatives, to order to support the continent's hydrogen market. “The new mechanism was created under the recently adopted decarbonized gases and hydrogen package and aims to accelerate investments by providing a clearer picture of the market situation of both off-takers and suppliers and facilitating contacts between them,” said the European Commission. “It will be in place for five years and will be part of the European Hydrogen Bank.”
Germany, Austria, and Italy have agreed to jointly develop the SoutH2 Corridor. “The SoutH2 Corridor will play in important role, especially when it comes to providing green hydrogen to our southern Länder,” said German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck. He explained that that the corridor will transfer hydrogen from North Africa to hydrogen demand hubs in Italy, Austria and Germany. The SoutH2 Corridor has already been chosen as a Project of Common Interest (PCI).
Wärtsilä said it has joined Gas and Heat and Italian classification society RINA to develop an ammonia-fueled bunkering vessel. Gas and Heat will design the cargo handling system, while Wärtsilä will design an optimized integrated propulsion solution, featuring its new four-stroke engine-based solution for ammonia fuel, said RINA.
John Cockerill said it has signed binding commitments with SLB, SFPIM, and Wallonie Entreprendre for a €230 million ($250.5 million) capital increase. SLB is leading John Cockerill Hydrogen's funding round, targeted for completion by June 2024. This fundraising round supports John Cockerill Hydrogen's strategy, including gigafactory rollouts in key locations. The Belgian company said it is expanding its global presence by establishing electrolyzer production and service hubs in the United States, India, and the United Arab Emirates, with similar investments planned for Morocco and Vietnam.
Shell said it has awarded another contract to Ceres for the second phase of their collaboration to design a solid oxide electrolyzer (SOEC) module for large-scale industrial applications like synthetic fuels, ammonia, and green steel. Ceres has been working with Shell since 2022, leading to the deployment of a 1 MW SOEC system at Shell's R&D facility in Bangalore, India. The new contract focuses on developing a pressurized module design that can scale to hundreds of megawatts and integrate with industrial plants to produce sustainable fuels, said Ceres.