Energy: €110 million ENEA-MiTE hydrogen plan kicks off

Kicking off is the Operational Research Plan (ROP) on green hydrogen developed by ENEA and funded by the Ministry of Ecological Transition with a contribution of 110 million euros, representing about 70%^[1] of PNRR funds for hydrogen research.

ENEA, in collaboration with CNR and RSE, will be tasked with carrying out research, development and innovation in the entire energy carrier value chain, which includes production, storage, distribution and end uses. To achieve this goal, the ROP breaks down resources into 40 million euros for green and clean hydrogen production; 30 million euros for storage, transport and transformation technologies into derivatives and e-fuel; 30 million euros for fuel cells for stationary and mobility applications; and, finally, 10 million euros for intelligent integrated management systems that can improve the resilience and reliability of hydrogen-based energy infrastructure.

“This is an outstanding achievement that required the systematization of multi-interdisciplinary expertise and experience, laboratories and infrastructures, with the aim of maximizing the spin-offs of the planned research activities, in order to facilitate their technology transfer to industrial and manufacturing supply chains. In particular, ENEA, through the Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources, has made a fundamental contribution in arriving at the definition, first, of the Program Agreement signed in May with the Ministry of Ecological Transition and, now, of this Operational Research Plan,” stresses Giorgio Graditi, Director of ENEA’s Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources and responsible for the Agency’s ‘Hydrogen ROP. “This scientific initiative will help to further strengthen cooperation with CNR and RSE and ensure organic coordination with the objectives of Mission Innovation and Electricity System Research whose 2022-2024 programming is in the approval phase, following public consultation. In this way, we will be able to more effectively pursue the decarbonization goals set by the PNRR and the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan,” adds Graditi.

Of the total funding of 110 million euros, 75 million euros will go to ENEA, which will be responsible for implementing the Plan and coordinating activities, 20 million euros to CNR and 15 million euros to Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico – RSE SpA.

Implementation of the projects will have to help foster hydrogen production from renewable sources and grid electricity and hydrogen-related activities that meet the requirement of 73.4 percent life-cycle greenhouse gas emission reductions for hydrogen and 70 percent for hydrogen-based synthetic fuels compared to a reference fossil fuel.

Once the research activities are completed by 2025, ENEA, CNR and RSE will be responsible for disseminating and transferring the results achieved for the benefit of Italian industry and, in general, our country’s energy transition.

[1] The decree of the Minister of Economy and Finance of August 6, 2021 et seq. m. i., providing for the allocation of the financial resources foreseen for the implementation of the interventions of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and the indications of goals and objectives by half-yearly reporting deadlines, allocates to the Ministry of Ecological Transition the amount of € 160 millions for the implementation of the investment 3.5 "Research and development of hydrogen energy"