HI2 – Hydrogen Industrial Inland Valley Austria

On February 3rd, 2025, we launched Europe's first hydrogen valley focused on industrial applications in 🇦🇹 Styria, Upper Austria, and Carinthia. With 48 national and international partners, we are set to invest €588 million by 2030 to drive decarbonization and strengthen our leadership in hydrogen research. 

The HI2 Valley project will establish a large-scale renewable hydrogen (H2) economy in the Austrian industrial regions of Upper Austria, Styria and Carinthia, directly contributing to the goals outlined in the European Green Deal, REPower EU and Hydrogen Strategy. The project will achieve this by decarbonising key sectors through H2, drastically reducing emissions in the steel, chemical, and cement industries as well as in energy and mobility via displacement of fossil fuels – including reducing the reliance on natural gas which Austria overwhelmingly imports from Russia. With 13.000 tons of green hydrogen being needed in the regions by 2028, over 10.000 tpy of green hydrogen will be produced within this HI2 Valley. By introducing strategically placed, decentralised H2 production facilities, the project will strengthen the country's energy resilience and flexibility and create a robust domestic market for green H2.

 

The HI2 Valley will play a crucial role in bridging the gap between Southern and Eastern European hydrogen supply corridors. Being embedded on the European Hydrogen Backbone and TEN-T network and future pipeline connections (PCIs) with Southern Europe and North Africa, the HI2 Valley will seamlessly connect Austria's multi-user H2 ecosystem with neighbouring countries like Germany, Italy and Slovakia, fostering a truly interconnected Central European hydrogen network. This role model helps to secure industrial jobs, and through standardisation and integration brings costs of hydrogen down, creating a green industrial future for Europe. Going beyond its immediate neighbours, the HI2 Valley will also foster knowledge sharing and wider adoption of green hydrogen through the active collaboration with five other emerging Hydrogen Valleys in Eastern Europe in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Latvia and the Czech Republic.

Key Highlights: 
- 𝟭𝟬𝟭 𝗠𝗪 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 
- 𝟭𝟬.𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝘆𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 
- 𝟭𝟳 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝟮 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 
 
This groundbreaking initiative helps to achieve national and European climate targets, energy independence, and a transition to clean energy. The HI2 Valley will create 1.000 jobs and contribute significantly to the decarbonization of energy-intensive industries. 

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With ZenLab d.o.o. solutions in the areas of digital twin, predictive maintenance and AI, we contribute to the development of automized, safe and efficient processes along the hydrogen value chain. By applying our solutions to the framework of the HI2 Hydrogen Valley, we will setup an interactive monitoring platform of all production and offtake hydrogen streams as well as implement digital twins of the respective plants.

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Participants in HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2024 Call - Among the project partners are: 
1. WIVA P&G-WASSERSTOFFINITIATIVE VORZEIGEREGION AUSTRIA POWER & GAS - Coordinator

2. AC STYRIA MOBILITATSCLUSTER GMBH - ACstyria Mobilitätscluster GmbH - Austria
3. ADVANCED BIOENERGY LAB EGEN - Austria
4. AGGM AUSTRIAN GAS GRID MANAGEMENT AG - Austria
5. ASOCIATIA CLUSTER PENTRU PROMOVAREA AFACERILOR SPECIALIZATE IN ECOTEHNOLOGII SI SURSE ALTERNATIVE DE ENERGIE -MEDGREEN - Romania
6. Astra Biowarme GmbH - Austria
7. AVL LIST GMBH - AVL - Austria
8. Bacher Touristik GmbH. - Bacher Touristik GmbH. - Austria
9. BEST - BIOENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES GMBH – BEST- Austria
10. BUSINESS UPPER AUSTRIA - OO WIRTSCHAFTSAGENTUR GMBH - TMG - Austria
11. DONAU CHEMIE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT - Austria
12. ENERGIE AG OBEROSTERREICH ERZEUGUNG GMBH - Austria
13. ENERGIE GRAZ GMBH & CO KG - Austria
14. ENERGIE STEIERMARK AG - Austria
15. ENERGIEINSTITUT AN DER JOHANNES KEPLER UNIVERSITAT LINZ VEREIN - EI - Austria
16. ENERGIENETZE STEIERMARK GMBH - ENERGIENETZE STEIERMARK GMBH - Austria
17. FISCHER EDELSTAHLROHRE AUSTRIA GMBH - Austria
18. FONDAZIONE BRUNO KESSLER - FBK - Italy
19. GREEN TECH VALLEY CLUSTER GMBH - GTC - Austria
20. Hospodarska a socialni rada Usteckeho kraje, z.s. - Czechia
21. HYCENTA RESEARCH GMBH - Austria
22. HYENERGY CONSULTANCY LIMITED - United Kingdom
23. IKEA MOBELVERTRIEB OHG - Austria
24. InterCal Austria GmbH - Austria
25. INTERNATIONAL CLEANTECH NETWORK F.M.B.A. - Denmark
26. K1-MET GMBH - K1-MET GmbH - Austria
27. KARNTNER FLUGHAFEN BETRIEBSGESELLSCHAFT MIT BESCHRANKTER HAFTUNG - KLAGENFURT AIRPORT - Austria
28. KELAG KARNTNER ELEKTRIZITATS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT - Austria
29. KNAUF INSULATION GMBH - Austria
30. KNG-KARNTEN NETZ GMBH - Austria
31. LINZ STROM GAS WARME GMBH FUR ENERGIEDIENSTLEISTUNGEN UND TELEKOMMUNIKATION - Austria
32. Mattersdorfer Handels und Transport GmbH - Austria
33. MINT HYDROGEN GMBH - Austria
34. PODKARPACKA DOLINA WODOROWA - Poland
35. PRO DANUBE MANAGEMENT GMBH - Austria
36. RAG AUSTRIA AG - Austria
37. RHI MAGNESITA GMBH - Austria
38. RIGAS TEHNISKA UNIVERSITATE - RTU - Latvia
39. SENERGY ELEMZO ES KUTATO NONPROFIT KORLATOLT FELELOSSEGU TARSASAG - SENERGY NONPROFIT LLC. - Hungary
40. TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT - TU Delft - Netherlands
41. WIETERSDORFER ALPACEM GMBH - Wietersdorfer Alpacem GmbH - Austria
42. ZENLAB RAČUNALNIŠKE STORITVE IN SVETOVANJE D.O.O - Slovenia
 

​🇪🇺 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼-𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝘆𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀. 

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