Europe’s first transnational Hydrogen Valley is transforming regional decarbonisation through large-scale collaboration, industrial testbeds and a long-term ecosystem approach.
Hydrogen has become a decisive element in Europe’s clean energy transition. One of the most ambitious examples can be found in the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley (NAHV), developed in co-operation between Croatia, Italy’s Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Slovenia. The initiative brings together 37 partners and is structured around 17 industrial testbed projects operating in several hard-to-abate sectors, including energy and mobility sectors, including land and maritime transport, manufacturing, waste management, glass production and steelmaking. Together with research, the academy, regulatory institutions, policymakers and the general public, the participants of the NAHV have been developing a co-ordinated pathway for renewable hydrogen production and use.
Jerneja Sedlar of HSE, Slovenia’s leading energy provider, NAHV Project Coordinator describes this vision clearly: “The North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley (NAHV) represents a unique cross-border partnership that brings together industry, research institutions, municipalities, and governments with one shared vision: to accelerate the transition to a sustainable hydrogen economy. Our work focuses on creating a fully integrated hydrogen ecosystem – from production and storage to transport and industrial use.”
NAHV is structured to ensure that hydrogen production links directly to industrial and municipal applications. Its plans include generating 5,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen annually by 2030, with deployment focused on sectors where alternatives for decarbonisation are limited. Collaboration between governments, public utility companies, universities, SMEs and large industrial players provides stability for long-term investment.
The Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic
The Valley has spun the development of a wider Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic, a regional platform uniting institutions, investors and technology developers. Its central convening point is the Hydrogen Ecosystem North Adriatic Conference, where stakeholders debate on regulation, funding priorities and technology deployment. Complementary projects, such as the North Adriatic Clean Hydrogen Investment Platform (NACHIP), H2Ready, and the North Adriatic Smart Communities Hydrogen Accelerator (NASCHA), build on this framework by supporting investment readiness of the engaged hydrogen-based solutions and accelerating their market adoption.
This approach enables progress beyond demonstration and towards a consistent deployment of planned solutions. Technology developers work alongside municipalities and investors to ensure that infrastructure, workforce skills and supply readiness grow together.
“Hydrogen Valleys such as NAHV are of crucial importance for the development of the hydrogen economy, as they demonstrate how clean hydrogen can be deployed across sectors and regions in practice,” emphasises Jerneja Sedlar. “They serve as living laboratories where innovative technologies meet real use cases, showing the pathway from pilot projects to large-scale implementation.”
The NAHV’s focus is on practical transformation rather than symbolic deployment. Across the portfolio of the entire Hydrogen Ecosystem of the North Adriatic, testbed and pilot projects are progressing in cement production, steel casting, port logistics and municipal transport, creating reference cases that can be replicated and scaled across borders.
“Through this project, we are not only investing in clean technologies, but also in the future of our region, ensuring energy security, competitiveness, and new opportunities for communities. As Coordinator of NAHV, I am proud to see how collaboration across Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy is shaping one of the most ambitious hydrogen initiatives in Europe,” concludes Jerneja Sedlar.
AcegasApsAmga Trieste’s Hydrogen Hub is turning vision into infrastructure
A key example of this approach is the work of AcegasApsAmga, whose Hydrogen Hub Trieste is becoming one of NAHV’s flagship infrastructure assets. The facility is designed as both a production site and a distribution platform for renewable hydrogen serving mobility operators and industrial users across the municipality. Officially launched on 18 September 2025, the Hub marked the prima pietra, or first stone, of a long-term hydrogen infrastructure plan for the city and region. The project combines €15.8m from Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan and €1.5m from Horizon Europe, exceeding €20m in total investment, and will deliver: a 5 MW electrolyser powered by a 4.8 MW photovoltaic park on a reclaimed industrial site producing around 370 tonnes of renewable hydrogen annually. The site is positioned next to the waste-to-energy plant, allowing wastewater from thermal recovery processes to be reused in hydrogen production, creating a circular energy loop between municipal utilities. Once operational, the hydrogen will be supplied to public transport operators (road and rail) and logistics providers, supporting a local value chain from renewable generation to application.
Its NAHV’s industrial testbed demonstrates how industrial users and municipalities can connect to a shared supply framework. In a broader sense, the North Adriatic Hydrogen Ecosystem is a unique phenomenon bringing together knowledge, innovation, and commitment, showing that Europe can deliver solutions that respond to today’s climate and energy challenges while laying the foundations for long-term prosperity.
As NAHV advances towards full operation, its message is consistent: hydrogen is becoming the central pillar of industrial and territorial innovation in the North Adriatic.
For more information, visit our website.
Please note, this article will also appear in the 24th edition of our quarterly publication.
