Aiming to harness hydrogen for a more competitive European industry and ahead of the COP28 climate summit, Europe’s biggest annual hydrogen event, co-organized by the European Commission, kicked off today in Brussels.

The “European Hydrogen Week 2023” will feature a four-day high-level conference and policy forum, bringing together policy makers and stakeholders to discuss the latest developments, challenges and opportunities in the hydrogen industry.

The event started with a video message by President Ursula von der Leyen and a keynote speech by Executive Vice-President Maros Šefčović who highlighted the importance of hydrogen and future global challenges and in particular the need to maintain the competitiveness of EU industry.

Earlier in the morning, Commissioner Thierry Breton participated in the seventh “Hydrogen Forum of the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance”. The Forum takes stock of the Clean Hydrogen Alliance’s progress so far and highlights “the actions needed to increase hydrogen production capacity across the supply chain to realize our hydrogen ambition by 2030, in line with with the REPowerEU project”, notes the European Commission in its announcement.

On Wednesday, at the high-level conference, Energy Commissioner Country Simston will deliver a message on the importance of supporting hydrogen infrastructure and upcoming related actions.

Climate Commissioner Boepke Hoekstra will deliver a speech on Thursday on the EU’s energy transition and the European Hydrogen Bank. On the same day, the Commission will launch the Bank’s first auction for domestic renewable hydrogen production, supported by the EU Innovation Fund.

The European Green Hydrogen Investment Day on Wednesday will bring together over 25 investors and 10 hydrogen businesses from across the EU with innovative hydrogen technology start-ups and large-scale projects. The week will conclude with the “On the road to COP28” webinar, ahead of the upcoming United Nations climate change conference in Dubai.