Examples of how to tackle this challenge

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- Protection and valorisation of European hydrogen IP

- Smarter public funding and risk-sharing for industrial scale-up

- Enforcement of global quality, safety, and performance standards

- Creation of European lead markets for hydrogen technologies

- Cost reduction through advanced materials and/or alternatives to critical raw materials

- Smart manufacturing and scale-up strategies

- ...

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Pathway baseline

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Europe has been the pioneer in hydrogen technologies for decades. In Belgium, we have several technology suppliers that are top of the world regarding hydrogen production technology (e.g., electrolysers & components).  Most of them recently invested in extensive manufacturing capacity.  However, the market growth is not meeting initial expectations, which leads to significant overcapacity at the new manufacturing sites.

In the meantime, Chinese competition is growing very fast. China operates in a completely different context. While we are concerned about return on investment, their focus is really on growing experience and volumes, even at a loss. They also are more willing to take risks with regard to lifetime performance or even safety, leading to extensive and fast knowledge building to reach a level of performance on par with EU players.

In China, mostly Alkaline and to a lesser extent PEM technology are being developed and manufactured at scale. Europe still has a leading position in Solid oxide technology.

How can we secure the competitiveness of our technology suppliers? What are the strategies that Europe can apply to develop its technology at scale?
 

Possible actions: 

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• Legislative: Protection of IP, smarter funding by EU and member states, and enforcing global (quality) standards.

• Market: Create local demand (cfr topic 1): Obligation on EU technology/components/content in publicly funded projects, create lead markets with targets on clean products, etc.

• Technology: innovation w.r.t. advanced materials for lower cost and longer lifetime, alternatives for critical materials; performance <-> cost balance, smart manufacturing processes enabling low cost scaling-up.

 

Expected outcome at the end of the Ideathon

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All teams should develop an idea to address each challenge by considering the following elements. Don’t worry, mentors and experts will guide you to meet these criteria! 

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1. Feasibility: Technical readiness, major gaps, regulatory/permitting hurdles.

2. Impact: Economic potential (cost/revenue), environmental benefits, and contribution to Belgian hydrogen goals.

3. Adoption & Acceptance: Market fit, customer need, social acceptance, behavioural or incentive requirements.

4. Scalability: Pathway from pilot to deployment, timeline realism, key risks, and required partnerships.

5. Enablers: Data needs, KPIs, and skills/workforce requirements to make the pathway viable.

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