The GetHyGA initiative aims to create an industrial ecosystem based on hydrogen with 78 projects.
Aliaga stresses that this project “will promote a hydrogen valley” in the Community.
The Vice-president and Minister of Industry, Competitiveness and Business Development of the Government of Aragon and President of the Hydrogen Foundation, Arturo Aliaga, has been in charge of closing the presentation ceremony of the initiative “GetHyGA: consolidating a hydrogen energy and technology pathway in Aragon”. The event was attended by the promoters of the 78 projects to be developed under the initiative, who have signed a letter of intent as an instrument of collaboration to establish the appropriate framework to promote, finance and implement all the projects that make up this initiative.
This action plan, promoted by the Department of Industry, Competitiveness and Business Development, through the Hydrogen Foundation, seeks to create an industrial ecosystem (what is known as a “hydrogen valley”) in Aragon that will mobilise more than 2,300 million euros and that contemplates not only the production and consumption of hydrogen as an energy source, but also its transport, storage and integration into industrial processes.
The vice-president, Arturo Aliaga, pointed out that “this new initiative adds to a long process that began in Aragon almost two decades ago, a period in which diverse and fruitful research has been carried out into hydrogen” and which “has allowed our autonomous community to position itself as a benchmark”. And he added, “this new action plan promoted by the Aragon Hydrogen Foundation will allow us to create an industrial ecosystem, what is already known as a hydrogen valley, which will contemplate not only the production and consumption of hydrogen as a source of energy, but also, something that is key, its transport, storage and integration into industrial processes”. Finally, he stated that they intend to “monitor where companies are going to place themselves and launch their projects to push them forward, monitor them and promote Aragon having a say in the future of hydrogen in Spain”.
This is a global initiative that aims to bring together a large number of hydrogen-related projects to be developed in the region from the energy, economic, industrial and development points of view. Initially, 78 entities will sign the letter of intent linked to GeTHyGA, although more may join in the future. In today’s act, representatives of 48 of them have signed this document, and another 30 will do so in the next few days. Between them, they are promoting 76 hydrogen-related projects in fields such as energy and the environment (42 projects), reindustrialisation and industrial reconversion (7), promotion of R&D&I (9), education, training and talent (4) and definition of regional policies (4). The combined budget of all these initiatives amounts to 2,354 million euros, which will be invested in the construction of hydrogen production infrastructures, decarbonisation of economic sectors and reindustrialisation activities, generating an economic impact of 10,865 million euros over the next 15 years.
GeTHyGA is based on public-private collaboration and is open to the incorporation of new projects, as well as being aligned both with the region’s strategies and with the most relevant national or European programmes in this area, as well as with the policies being developed in this respect by the surrounding territories. The starting point for GeTHyGA is the national and international trajectory and leadership that Aragon has enjoyed for almost two decades in the promotion of hydrogen technologies, fuel cells and renewable energies, for the benefit of the general interest of its citizens, companies and society.
The Hydrogen Master Plan 2021-2025 in Aragon approved
Get HyGA is closely related to the Aragon Hydrogen Master Plan 2021-2025, which was recently approved by the Board of Trustees of the Aragon Hydrogen Foundation. This document, the Foundation’s fourth plan, is key to continue identifying opportunities in the development of hydrogen technologies in Aragon, as well as to establish specific actions that involve entities in its implementation, with the ultimate purpose of creating wealth in the region and helping to meet the national and European objectives of decarbonisation of the economy. Once approved, the Foundation adopts the Plan as the basic working document and undertakes to disseminate it among society and to submit it to the different Public Administrations and relevant organisations in order to achieve maximum support. Among other aspects, the Plan states that, during the 2016-2020 period, Aragonese entities have participated in 77 research and promotion projects on hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, which have led to the investment of 35.2 million euros in Aragon and have obtained 25.9 million euros in the different public calls – mainly European – to which they have applied.
The Board of Trustees, in addition to approving the 2020 accounts, a year in which the Foundation ended with a positive result, reviewed the activity carried out in recent months, noting that in 2020 and 2021, 17 new projects have been approved and initiated, under programmes such as those of the FCH JU (Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, a public-private partnership that promotes research in Europe, technological development and demonstration activities on hydrogen with the participation of the European Commission, industries and research centres), Life+, Interreg, H2020, EMPIR, S3 Hydrogen Valleys Platform, Innovative Business Groupings (AEI) of the Ministry of Industry or the Aid Programme for Industry and SMEs in Aragon (PAIP) of the Government of Aragon.
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