Dear Hydrogen Europe Research members,

As we enter the second half of the year, please find below some activities surrounding the Clean Hydrogen Partnership which may be of interest to you:

Annual Work Plan 2026 – Interested Parties

• You can now indicate your interest in the AWP26 topics that have gone through to the second round of drafting via the following Typeform: https://secretariat770050.typeform.com/to/gve8iOc5. This will help networking with other members for any topic(s) of interest to your organisation, in view of formulating a proposal once the Call will be published. The overview will continuously be updated and stored on the intranet.
• Due to the required prioritisation, the Governing Board agreed to drop/postpone the following topics from the first iteration:
  • TC3-04 (postponed): Lifetime cost reduction of PEM Fuel Cells through innovative materials and components in stacks
  • TC4-03 (postponed): Stationary Fuel Cell-based fast charging for EVs
  • TC5-03 (dropped): Harmonisation of regulations, codes and standards and risk assessment methodologies for safe handling of hydrogen in industrial applications
  • Met-01 (dropped): Electrolyser and FC material testing
  • Met-02 (dropped): Harmonised materials and methods for assessment of solid-state hydrogen storage
  • Met-03 (postponed): Underground Hydrogen Storages facilities monitoring technologies, methodologies, and strategies for asset integrity
• Further prioritisation will be required in October, as we are still slightly overshooting the available budget of 120M€. As such, there is no guarantee that every topic currently listed will be included in the final version of the Annual Work Plan.
• Should you wish to be involved in the drafting of topics of interest, you can join at any time via the following link:        https://secretariat770050.typeform.com/to/UWf8G8MD

Hydrogen Valleys Project Development Assistance (PDA)

• As part of the newly launched Hydrogen Valley Facility, the Programme Office of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership launched a new PDA Call for Hydrogen Valleys. This Call will be open from the 11^th of July until the 19^th of September.
• The PDA will offer tailored expert support services in commercial, technical, regulatory and governance dimensions to advance Hydrogen Valleys towards the Final Investment Decision (FID). Any hydrogen project in the EU/Horizon Europe countries meeting the Valley criteria (clean hydrogen production, large scale, geographically defined scope, broad value chain coverage, supply of more than one end-use, real project development) is eligible.
• Up to 15 PDAs in total (“light” and “plus”, i.e. early-stage and more mature projects) will be awarded to eligible projects.
• An Info Day will take place on Friday 18^th of July, in the morning – no registration is required, the meeting link can be found here: https://www.clean-hydrogen.europa.eu/media/news/launch-project-development-assistance-pda-programme-hydrogen-valleys-applications-open-11-july-2025-07-11_en
• Further Calls will follow in the future, with the aim to provide additional PDAs.
• More information can be found on the PDA website:  https://pda.h2v.eu/en

Innovation Forum, Research & Innovation Days (ex- Programme Review Days) & HER General Assembly

• The Innovation Forum of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership will take place during the Hydrogen Week on the 2^nd and 3^rd of October, in Brussels – registration will open in September.
• As a follow-up, the EU Research & Innovation Days will take place on the 24^th and 25^th of November, in Brussels – more information should be communicated by the Programme Office in due course.
• The next HER General Assembly will take place during the same week as the Research & Innovation Days, on Wednesday 26^th of November in the morning – more information will follow.