North Adriatic Clean Hydrogen Investment Platform (NACHIP) aims to validate nascent technologies at TRL8-9, pilot dynamic clean hydrogen value chains, develop an acceleration programme for transfer of the technologies to market. These results enable market replicability of innovations across NAHV territories, particularly benefiting less developed regions.
Specifically, main goals of NACHIP are:
- Implement and scale-up a portfolio of investment propositions (pilots) for hydrogen-related technologies, initially as TRL 6 or higher, across selected value chains.
- Develop “local hydrogen alliances” around these pilots to anchor further development of target value chains.
- Generate an investable portfolio of hydrogen-related solutions with an acceleration program to support continuous technology maturation, dissemination, and integration into the NAHV ecosystem and beyond.
NACHIP’s activities accelerate the Hydrogen Ecosystem’s development in the North Adriatic territory and increase its impact. The Platform’s design and the acceleration programme facilitate the adoption of hydrogen-related technologies across target cross-regional value chains, fostering collaboration and joint innovation projects aligned with EU priorities.
NACHIP focuses on validating and demonstrating clean hydrogen technologies across three key value chains: manufacturing, urban areas, and mobility. Its five pilot projects are designed to cover the entire hydrogen value chain – generation, conversion, transmission, storage, and utilisation – and to demonstrate replicable solutions that can be scaled across the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley.
NACHIP’s activities accelerate the Hydrogen Ecosystem’s development in the North Adriatic territory and increase its impact. The Platform’s design and the acceleration programme facilitate the adoption of hydrogen-related technologies across target cross-regional value chains, fostering collaboration and joint innovation projects aligned with EU priorities.
To support market uptake, NACHIP will integrate up to 18 SMEs into its three target value chains through a two-tier acceleration programme and cascade financing, with particular attention to less developed regions of the NAHV territory.
NACHIP is co-financed by the European Union through the I3 Instrument implemented by EISMEA – European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency. It was granted under the Call Interregional Innovation Investments Strand 2a (I3-2023-INV2a).
The Agency implements the European Innovation Council and manages other EU programmes focusing on supporting SMEs, innovation and the Single Market, strengthening innovation through advisory and financial support and steering projects in common areas of smart specialisation towards successful commercialization, growth and upgrade.
The project brings together a consortium of 12 partners from Croatia, Slovenia, and the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy, led by the Jožef Stefan Institute from Ljubljana. Partners include ECUBES, KSSENA, ETRA, DOK-ING, Municipality of Velenje, META Group, META Circularity, FER, Leonitus, Serichim and Faber, who are committed to cross-border integration of hydrogen production, distribution, consumption, and clean hydrogen exchange.
The duration of the project is three years and upon its expiry its results and outcomes will integrate in the governance structure foreseen as a Special-Purpose Vehicle of the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley (NAHV SPV) to ensure NACHIP’s long-term sustainability. Particularly, the continuity of NACHIP’s solutions and related actions and their replicability is going to be made available for the actors of the North Adriatic area and other EU’s regional Innovation Ecosystems.