The project aims to create a green hydrogen value chain connecting the renewables capacities in southeastern Europe with the growing interest in hydrogen in western Europe. Austria’s largest producer of renewable electricity VERBUND is developing a European project named Green Hydrogen@Blue Danube for the production, transport and use of green hydrogen for industrial customers and for the mobility sector.
VERBUND is developing the project in conjunction with partners and buyers of green hydrogen in the framework of the European Commission’s Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) initiative. The project is coordinated by VERBUND and involves various stakeholders along the value chain, mostly Austrian and German companies such as Bayernoil, Bosch, Siemens Energy and many others. Romania’s state-owned electricity producer Hidroelectrica is also involved in the project as co-investor in renewable energy and hydrogen production in SEE. The objective is to create a trans-European green hydrogen value chain from production to transport and purchase by industrial and mobility costumers. The first phase of the project focuses on production and use of green hydrogen in Austria and Bavaria. In the second phase, they will connect hydrogen produced from renewables in South-Eastern Europe. Hydrogen will be transported via the Danube, a long-established transport corridor (TEN-T) to buyers in Austria and Germany.