The North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley – NAHV project builds on the LoI signed in March 2022 by representatives of the Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure, Croatian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) Autonomous Region in Italy, contributing to the European Green Deal and European Hydrogen Strategy goals. The project’s high-level objective is the creation of a hydrogen-based economic, social and industrial ecosystem based on the capacity of the quadruple helix actors. This will drive economic growth, generating new job opportunities in the framework of both the green and digital transitions and, by creating the conditions for wider EU replicability, it will contribute to the creation of a European Hydrogen Economy, To fulfil these objectives the NAHV project involves a well-rooted partnership of 36 organizations (of which 2 in Hydrogen Europe, 3 in Hydrogen Europe Research), covering the transnational Central European area of 3 territories - Slovenia, Croatia and FVG Region, demonstrating cross-border integration of hydrogen production, distribution and consumption, and exchange of over 20% of NAHV annual hydrogen production of over 5000 tons. The project will activate 17 testbed applications in their related ecosystems, clustered in 3 main pillars - hard to abate, energy and transport sectors. These will act as real-life cases for piloting global hydrogen markets, moving from TRL 6 at the beginning to TRL 8 at the end of the project. Four fuel cell applications in the energy and transport sectors will be demonstrated. Testbeds will then be scaled up at industrial level as a replicable model, contributing to the decarbonisation of the 3 territories by harnessing renewables to improve system resilience, security of supply and energy independence. Replicability will also be ensured for the whole NAHV model, with the uptake of at least 5 additional hydrogen valleys in Europe, particularly in Central and South Eastern Europe.

The main aim of the project is to contribute to accelerating the shift to safe use of sustainable climate neutral fuels in waterborne transport through a full scale on board operational demonstration of a new system powered by hydrogen fuel cells with maritime applications. An international consortium of top-notch entities covering the whole innovation value chain will develop, validate and demonstrate a new zero emission passenger ship powered by hydrogen and the associated hydrogen distribution, storage and bunkering solution. The ship will be specifically designed to operate in the Adriatic Sea, which is known for its pristine environment and sensitive marine ecosystems. The commissioning and validation in the operational environment through sea trials will be performed to ensure compliance with certification authorities. Emissions assessment, environmental performance studies, risk and safety assessments will be performed on the new system. Advanced digital technologies, including digital twin for monitoring, control and simulation and predictive maintenance solution enhanced with augmented reality systems, will also be developed, documented, tested and optimized during the project for ship owners, operators, shipyards and associated engineering firms. Finally, a detailed feasibility assessment and business planning will be developed to establish commercialisation and scalability opportunities. A successful realisation of the project will facilitate the wider adoption of sustainable climate neutral fuels within the European maritime transport sector in line with the Green Deal objectives, contributing to its efficiency, safety, resilience and international competitiveness.

The main goal of INNO2MARE is to strengthen the capacity for excellence of Western Slovenian and Adriatic Croatian innovation ecosystems through a set of jointly designed and implemented actions that will support the digital and green transitions of the maritime and connected industries. Based on an in-depth mapping of the ecosystems and needs & gaps analysis, the consortium will formulate a long-term R&I strategy aligned with regional, national and EU strategies, as a visionary framework, and a joint action & investment plan, with concrete steps for building coordinated, resilient, attractive and sustainable maritime innovation ecosystems. To support the joint strategy and provide a model for the future collaborative R&I of the ecosystems’ actors, the project will implement three R&I pilot projects that address some of the key challenges related to maritime education and training, security & safety in marine traffic as well as energy conversion and management systems’ efficiency. These pilots will be the basis for further development, scale-up and translation of the generated research results into innovative business opportunities through the coordinated mobilisation of public and private funding. The consortium will also implement innovative programmes that will support the engagement of citizens in the innovation processes, knowledge transfer for mutual learning, entrepreneurship & smart skills training and attraction of best talents, involving more than 1.000 participants across the Quadruple Helix. In all the project activities, the two ecosystems will strongly benefit from the sharing of best practices of the Flemish ecosystem, one of the most developed maritime innovation ecosystems globally. The project will contribute to reducing the innovation divide in Europe by systematically connecting the innovation actors within and between the ecosystems and creating synergies in R&I investments’ planning and execution, thus developing a true innovation culture.