Nearly 300 international and domestic hydrogen technology experts and political decision-makers from nine countries discussed our future at the Hydrogen Open 2025 conference in Budapest. From 2030, 42% of the 200,000 tons of hydrogen produced in Hungary must be replaced with green, i.e. carbon dioxide-emission-free, clean hydrogen. This fundamentally affects Hungarian industrial players and the Hungarian economy, which is why the regulation of hydrogen technology and the preparation of domestic economic players are particularly important. The Hungarian Hydrogen Technology Association is playing a significant role in this with the conference that has just been organized.
Hydrogen technology plays an essential role in maintaining global competitiveness, and today’s events also indicate that the world is not waiting for Europe. The European Union and Hungary must also prepare for the development associated with renewable energy and take proactive steps to do so. – emphasized István Lepsényi, President of the Hungarian Technology Association, in his closing remarks. He added that Hydrogen Open 2025 aims to help industrial players plan the year ahead with realistic professional prospects.
At the two-day conference, leaders and regulatory decision-makers from important domestic and European industrial players expressed their opinions and discussed the expected role and development potential of hydrogen.
Hydrogen plays a prominent role in the strategy of the event’s host, MOL Group. In April 2024, it handed over its largest green hydrogen plant in Central and Eastern Europe to date, with a capacity of 10 megawatts, is preparing the construction of similar electrolysis units in Rijeka and Bratislava, and is also continuously investigating the use of green hydrogen for transportation purposes. The company’s goal is to support the green transition and European competitiveness by boosting the hydrogen economy, which requires support from decision-makers and a simplified, flexible, and encouraging regulatory environment.
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, President of Hydrogen Europe, welcomed the conference participants via a video call and highlighted the international activities of the Hungarian Technology Association in recent years.
He drew attention to the need to comply with the international climate agreements that have already been concluded and stressed that the obligations contained in them should not be taken lightly. As a solution, he advised us to be more flexible, more open and to try to focus on developing technologies that can facilitate the transition process.
He criticized those who focused their attention on only a few technologies, because this hinders constant innovation. He cited Hungary as an example, which broadened its focus and made the right decision to try to map out as many development areas and opportunities as possible.
He referred to the fact that countries within the European Union were encouraged to establish charging stations, but this objective is difficult to achieve if the necessary financial resources and the appropriate ecosystem are lacking. He particularly emphasized the importance of developing hydrogen valleys, which he considers one of the key elements of the new guidelines for development.
Valerie Bouillon-Delporte, CEO of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, gave information about the importance of hydrogen valleys and the HORIZON 2025 hydrogen-themed application opportunities that were released this week, for the first time at the Hydrogen Open 2025 conference. She said that the first hydrogen valley was founded in 2019 with the support of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership. Since then, these projects have been present in 17 different European countries, and the number of collaborations has now reached 18. The goal is to create 25 hydrogen valleys by 2025 and 50 by 2030, which Hungary will hopefully join. According to Bouillon-Delporte, the real value of hydrogen valleys lies in the fact that by connecting them, a collaborative European ecosystem will emerge that can give the biggest boost to the development of hydrogen technology.
