23 June 2026
The “Clean Hydrogen” Joint Program brings together European research on hydrogen and connects scientific institutions across national borders. The announcement follows a decision to broaden the program’s scope and strengthen its strategic focus, with the goal of more closely integrating research, innovation, and industrial applications in Europe.
The program investigates how hydrogen can be produced, stored, and used, for example, for energy, in industry, in transportation, or for heating. Another focus is on storing energy using hydrogen over extended periods and making it flexibly available. In addition, researchers are developing new methods and analyzing energy systems to ensure the efficient and sensible use of hydrogen. The goal is to establish a sustainable and economically viable hydrogen economy in Europe.
As part of this realignment, the program is broadening its focus. In addition to electricity-based hydrogen production, it is increasingly incorporating alternative hydrogen carriers, new technological approaches, and additional industrial applications. At the same time, cooperation with key European stakeholders such as Hydrogen Europe Research, the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, and the Hydrogen Working Group within the Strategic Energy Technology Plan is being expanded.
“I am really pleased about the trust placed in me by the members of the EERA Joint Programme “Clean Hydrogen” and my appointment as programme coordinator. Europe can draw on a strong network of research and innovation stakeholders that brings together excellent scientific and technological expertise across the entire hydrogen value chain. A particular strength of the network lies in use-inspired basic research, which generates new insights and paves the way for technical applications. We aim to strengthen the links between these areas of expertise across Europe. I look forward to working with our partners to advance European hydrogen research and the development of innovative hydrogen technologies.”
Peter Wasserscheid is the Founding Director of the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nuremberg for Renewable Energies (HI ERN) as well as the Institute for a Sustainable Hydrogen Economy (IHE) at Forschungszentrum Jülich. He also holds the Chair of Chemical Reaction Engineering at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. With over 600 scientific publications and an h-index of around 100, he is one of the world’s most influential researchers in his field.
European Energy Research Alliance: www.eera-set.eu
Director and Head of Research Department Chemical Hydrogen Storage
