The winner was awarded a professional trip to Japan, one of the most advanced countries in hydrogen technology, by the Hungarian Hydrogen Association. The first place went to the Hydrogen-Diesel Dual Fuel drivetrain development competition of BDN Automotive Kft. The award was presented by István Lepsényi, President of the Hungarian Hydrogen Technology Association, and Roland Jakab, CEO of the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network, at the GreenTech Zalaegerszeg 2025 event.
The Hungarian Hydrogen Technology Association, in cooperation with the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network, announced the Hydrogen Technology Innovation Award at the beginning of April 2025 with the aim of embracing all scientific and research results and innovative solutions that aim at the novel application of hydrogen technology in energy, transport, construction, agriculture or heavy industry.
The applications were evaluated by renowned experts in energy science and representatives of leading scientific workshops in hydrogen technology.
István Lepsényi said in his speech that there is a great need for domestic hydrogen technology inventions and developments, as the domestic economy can benefit the most from them. He added that the members of the evaluation committee assessed the submitted applications as being of high quality from an innovation perspective and consider it particularly important that the application be announced in the coming years as well. Therefore, the president of the association announced that they plan to create a tradition from the award, which is why the Hungarian Hydrogen Technology Association plans to announce the competition next year as well.
The award ceremony celebrates innovation and utilization, said Jakab Roland, CEO of HUN-REN. Science becomes a real value when it is utilized in the economy and creates value for society. At the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network, we consider it important to announce competitions where talented young people can show how serious innovation value their knowledge represents. Hydrogen technology is of outstanding importance – not only from a scientific but also from a strategic perspective – which is why we are currently placing great emphasis on research in this area at HUN-REN, added Jakab Roland.
The diversity of the applications received shows that they covered almost the entire area of the hydrogen sector, from pure hydrogen production to chemical hydrogen storage to the efficiency testing of solar panels. The applications were typically submitted by SMEs (57%), while individual entrepreneurs (14%) and PhD students (29%) develop inventions in a much smaller proportion, in line with international trends.
The first place went to the “Hydrogen-Diesel Dual Fuel Powertrain Development” application of BDN Automotive Kft. The dual-fuel technology they developed not only guarantees a significant reduction in emissions, but also provides flexibility, since the traditional diesel plant remains available. Their application focuses on achieving at least 85% of the desired emission reduction from the 15% investment required for zero emissions.
The main prize of the application is the full cost of travel to the Osaka World Expo and the presentation of the invention at the world exhibition. MOL will also support the winning application with 600 thousand forints for the trip. This creates an exceptional opportunity to build relationships with global professional, investor and sales partners.
For the winning applicants, the Hungarian Hydrogen Technology Association organizes a domestic investor event, where the inventors can present their innovations to nearly 100 large companies, small and medium-sized enterprises and institutions that make up the Association’s membership. The Association aims to bring the most viable innovations and inventions to economic exploitation as soon as possible.
