SET 9: FCH-JU strategiarbeid og deltagelse i N.ERGHY

Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH-JU) is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative from the European Commission (EC) with the goal to develop and bring to the market fuel Cell and hydrogen technologies for both stationary and mobile energy applications, but also low emission transport. The FCH-JU governing board has representatives from the EC, European Industry and European Research Community. The last two are gathered in a joint association named Hydrogen Europe where both industries (large and SMEs) and research organizations (research institutes, universities) with business and activities in the field of fuel cell and hydrogen are represented. Institutt for energiteknikk (IFE) has been performing research related to fuel cells and hydrogen for more than 20 years, more particularly in the fields of hydrogen production with low carbon emission, hydrogen-based energy systems, hydrogen storage and energy carriers. IFE has been member of Hydrogen Europe Research (formally N-ERGHY, now HER) since 2007 under the 7th Framework programme and the Horizon 2020 programme. This membership has allowed IFE to participate in several FCH-JU research projects and to strengthen its international collaboration in this field. In the period 2016-2018, IFE has received funding from The Research Council of Norway (RCN), which was made available to support the participation of Norwegian research organisations in N-ERGHY and HER with the goal of promoting Norwegian interests in the field of fuel cells and hydrogen and to influence the research carried in this field. Through an active participation in N-ERGHY and HER, but also in events organized by the FCH-JU, IFE has provided inputs concerning relevant research activities for both IFE and the Norwegian research community. These inputs have been given in the form of research topic proposals in agreement with priorities defined in Annual Working Programs. Several of these topics have been accepted by the FCH-JU governing board and have given the possibility for IFE plus Norwegian partners (industry, SMEs) to deliver related project proposals. Several of these proposals have been funded through collaborative FCH-JU projects. In addition, IFE has emphasized to the HER board the importance of promoting topics at low Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) to favour the participation of Norwegian research organisations in FCH-JU projects. This has given results since the number of low TRL topics has raised significantly in the last 2 years. It is also expected that this kind of topics will continue to be promoted in the next EU framework program following Horizon 2020.

Prosjektet har gjort det mulig for IFE å følge opp det strategiske arbeidet i EUs FCH-JU (Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking) via deltakelse i Hydrogen Europe Research, en forskningsgruppering som støtter opp mot FCH-JU. Ved å delta i denne grupperingen har det vært mulig for IFE å påvirke det strategiske forskningsprogrammet som legges ut hvert år, ved å gi input og forslag. Det har spesielt vært viktig for IFE å kunne spille inn forslag til utlysningstekst som er relevant for IFE, men også for andre norske forskningsinstitusjoner og bedrifter, med hovedmål å generere prosjekter finansiert av FCH-JU med sterk norsk deltakelse. I tillegg har prosjektet gitt IFE muligheten til å forsterke samarbeidsnettverket sitt i EU.

FCH-JU (Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking) er et Horizon 2020 basert program i EU for finansiering av forskning, utvikling og demonstrasjon av hydrogen og brenselcelleteknologi. Dette er et viktig program for gjennomføring av deler av SET-planen, da det her fokuseres både på miljøvennlig transport og hydrogen-baserte løsninger for lagring av fornybar energi. N.ERGHY representerer et samarbeid mellom europeiske universiteter og forskningsinstitutter i FCH-JU.IFE er fullt medlem i N.ERGHY, og ønsker å fortsette med dette. Framover er et mål for IFE å delta aktivt i FCH-JU for å fremme norske og IFE-relaterte aktiviteter innen hydrogenproduksjon, lagring og bruk. Deltakelse i FCH-JU møter, workshop og i relevante arbeidsgrupper i N.ERGHY er viktig for å innhente informasjon, for å tiltrekke partnere og for å bidra til utlysning av temaer som er av norsk interesse. Informasjon om arbeidet vil bli distribuert både via årlige møter og nyhetsbrev til norske aktører innen området.