On February 3, 2025, the starting signal will be given for Europe’s first hydrogen valley with a focus on industrial applications, which will be implemented in Styria, Upper Austria and Carinthia. Around 100 participants from a total of 48 partners will meet in Graz to start planning the 17 projects. By 2030, 578 million euros are to be invested in the three federal states. The EU is supporting the Hydrogen Valley with start-up funding of 20 million euros, which has already been confirmed by the EU Commission.

 “The launch of the joint Hydrogen Valley is a milestone for our three federal states. As THE industrial regions in Austria, we are particularly challenged to drive forward the decarbonization of industry. The Hydrogen Valley will make a significant contribution to this. It will also enable us to further strengthen our position as internationally leading regions in hydrogen research,” said Barbara Eibinger-Miedl, Styrian State Councillor for Economic Affairs and Research, Markus Achleitner, Upper Austrian State Councillor for Economic Affairs and Research, and Sebastian Schuschnig, Carinthian State Councillor for Economic Affairs.

10,000 tons of green hydrogen per year

The Hydrogen Valley projects cover the entire value chain – from the production and transportation to the storage and use of green hydrogen. New plants are planned to produce more than 10,000 tons of hydrogen per year in the three federal states. Demand in Styria, Upper Austria and Carinthia is estimated at over 13,000 tons by 2028.

The entire Hydrogen Valley, which is being implemented under the leadership of the WIVA P&G research institute, involves 48 national and international partners in 17 projects. These focus on applications in industry (56 percent), energy (23 percent) and mobility (21 percent). Of the 17 projects, six each are being implemented in Styria and Upper Austria and five in Carinthia. The timetable envisages concrete planning by the end of 2026, followed by the construction of the plants so that they can go into operation by the end of 2028. The plants will be further optimized by 2030. “The signing of the funding agreement marks the next major milestone in the implementation of the HI2 Valley. Now it’s all about implementing the individual projects within the valley and creating new synergies. We look forward to close cooperation between all Valley partners over the next six years and hopefully beyond,” says Margherita Matzer, Project Manager HI2-Valley at WIVA P&G.

In addition, the planned “SoutH2Corridor” hydrogen pipeline, which covers a distance of almost 4,000 kilometers from North Africa via Italy and Austria to Germany, will be taken into account in the further hydrogen expansion on site. Just a few days ago, Austria, Germany, Algeria, Italy and Tunisia signed a declaration of intent to develop this southern hydrogen corridor at the ministerial conference in Rome.

Styrian focus on energy-intensive industryAccording to the EU, the steel, cement and raw materials sectors, which are strongly represented in Styria and very energy-intensive, are the most difficult industries to decarbonize. This makes the use of green hydrogen all the more essential here. This is also because some of the conventionally produced hydrogen already used in this sector is to be converted to 50 percent green production in the EU by 2030. There is therefore a great need for action here, and these sectors are all being decarbonized on a pilot basis in Styria in the Hydrogen Valley. The plants set up in Styria as part of the Hydrogen Valley are expected to produce around 5,500 tons of green hydrogen per year from 2028.

According to the “Green Energy Master Plan 2040” of the Styrian IV and Energie Steiermark, the domestic industry expects to need 2.8 to 4.6 TWh more hydrogen than electricity in ten years’ time (currently 2.4 TWh, around 3.4 TWh in 2035).  By 2030, around 0.6 TWh or more than 18,000 tons of green hydrogen will be required annually from local production.

Local production creates 1,000 jobs

The Green Tech Valley Cluster and ACstyria already employ around 1,000 people in research and industry in the field of hydrogen, for example at Andritz, AVL, HyCentA, Montanuniversität Leoben and Graz University of Technology. According to current EU studies, this would create a further 1,000 jobs if the aforementioned demand for green hydrogen production of 18,000 tons by 2030 were to be largely generated regionally.

Presentation slides for the kick-off on 03.02.25: Hydrogen Valley Kick-off