Zasavje Regional Development Agency is participating as a project partner in the Interreg project entitled H2greenFUTURE (Interreg SLO-AUT). The lead partner of the project is the National Institute of Chemistry. The project involves four other partners from Slovenia and Austria. The project will be implemented within the Interreg Slovenia-Austria program and is aimed at solving the challenges of climate change through the development and integration of green hydrogen technologies.

In the H2GreenFUTURE project, the Zasavje Regional Development Agency, together with project partners, will work towards the development, integration and use of hydrogen technologies in Slovenia and Austria. The goal of the project is to lay the foundations for a cross-border innovation ecosystem that will promote the development of hydrogen technologies with the cooperation of all relevant actors. In order to preserve the natural environment and biodiversity as we know it today, it is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt the economy and society to new low-carbon technologies such as hydrogen technologies. The development of such technologies requires comprehensive action by all actors.

Various activities will be carried out within the project. In parallel with the pilot-demonstration activities, with which the project partners will identify legal, security and technological obstacles that prevent the development of hydrogen technologies in the cross-border area, efforts will be made to establish a legislative framework to encourage such investments and facilitate the penetration of hydrogen technologies into the market. With the aim of raising awareness and transferring knowledge between research institutions and industry, they will develop a comprehensive database of hydrogen technologies that will complement the existing B2B platform of the Center for Hydrogen Technologies (H2GreenTech Hydrogen Centre) and develop specialized training programs for technical and research personnel in companies, as well as customized content for relevant study programs and workshops for students.
The H2GreenFUTURE project will be based on the constant cross-border cooperation of all partners and intensive consultations with relevant stakeholders. Innovative approaches such as pilot-demonstration activities, regulatory sandbox and a combination of digital and traditional education will be used to achieve the goals. A special feature of the project is also its alignment with the Action Plan for the Development of Hydrogen Technologies in Slovenia and Austria, which was proposed within the framework of the H2GreenTech project (Interreg SI-AT). The H2GreenFUTURE project will implement key measures necessary for the successful development and effective use of hydrogen technologies.

The Zasavje Regional Development Agency is working towards the integration of hydrogen technologies in the Zasavje region. Since January 2023, the agency has been cooperating with the consulting company Element Energy from Great Britain, which provided technical assistance in the development of concepts. It obtained help from the tender of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership program. The agency's efforts are aimed at establishing three different demonstration cases of the production and use of green hydrogen in the Zasavje region. The participation the project will strengthen competences in this area, identify development opportunities, practices, innovations and above all, establish excellent connections with leading organizations in the field of cutting-edge technologies.