We celebrate the 38th Board of Trustees Meeting, which brings together 91 companies and research centres. The Vice President of the Government of Aragon and President of the Foundation, Arturo Aliaga, chaired the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the entity. He stressed that “at this time, when Europe’s commitment to hydrogen is clear, in Aragon we are ready to face this stage. The activity of hydrogen application already extends to 25 national and international projects, to which must be added that the deployment of PERTE can be a stimulus for the development of this technology”.
This was made clear at the meeting held in the Crown Room of the Government of Aragon, which, in addition to approving the accounts for the past financial year 2021, which we have once again concluded with a surplus. In addition, the activities carried out during the first half of 2022 were reviewed and the incorporation of two new companies in the defence (Instalaza) and clean energy (Salix Energías Renovables) sectors was approved. With them, we are now 91 companies, research centres and entities related to the deployment of a technology, hydrogen, which has an increasingly evident role in the decarbonisation of the economy and society.
During the meeting, it was also highlighted that at this time, when Europe’s commitment to hydrogen is clear, Aragon is ready to face this stage. The activity of hydrogen application already extends to 25 national and international projects, to which must be added that the deployment of PERTE can be a stimulus for the development of this technology.
It should be recalled that the Board of Trustees meeting last February also approved the adhesion of another five companies, whose representatives have already taken part in today’s meeting. In terms of projects, we are working simultaneously on more than 25 international and national projects promoted under different calls for proposals by institutions such as the European Commission, the ministries of the Spanish Government or the Government of Aragon itself. Likewise, we collaborate with third parties in areas such as training, which has allowed us, for example, to launch the first Inter-University Master’s Degree in Hydrogen Technologies, which is being studied simultaneously in centres in Aragon, Catalonia and the Basque Country.
In the area of promotion and dissemination, the Foundation is present in two of the main initiatives that have come to light in recent months in Spain. On the one hand, the Ebro Hydrogen Corridor, which was presented in April in Zaragoza and in which the Aragonese initiative GetHyGA, which represents the hydrogen valley of the community with those of the Basque Country, Catalonia and Navarre, and the SHYNE consortium, the largest in Spain in the field of renewable hydrogen, join forces. On the other hand, the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation (PERTE) of Renewable Energies, Renewable Hydrogen and Storage promoted by the Spanish Government, for which numerous proposals have been presented with the advice of the human team of the Aragonese Foundation.
Finally, during the Meeting, the figure of Francisco Bono, former Minister of Economy of the Government of Aragon, who was its President between 2011 and 2012, who passed away this June, was remembered. Also recognised for his special dedication and commitment, at the time of his retirement, was Juan Ramón Ochoa, who has been our secretary of the Foundation since its creation almost two decades ago, a civil servant of the Government of Aragon.
