Snam revealed the launch of the Hydrogen Innovation Center, Italy's first national center of excellence for hydrogen technologies, with the objective of bringing together industrial partners and university research centers to accelerate the development of the sector.

"The mission of the Hydrogen Innovation Center is to build a strategic alliance between business and research to consolidate the Italian hydrogen value chain and encourage the creation of new companies and projects, also through the launch of an acceleration program," said Cosma Panzacchi, EVP Hydrogen of Snam. "The aim is to propose the first projects to the market and to extend the partnership network abroad within the next two years."

The first site of the Hydrogen Innovation Center will be opened in Modena, under a collaboration agreement between Snam and UNIMORE (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia). Other hubs in the country will follow, including one with the Polytechnic University of Milan; by the end of 2021, an overseas hub will also be established, in collaboration with a university in the United States.

Snam's Hydrogen Innovation Center will continue the collaborations already in place with hydrogen research centers, including the partnership with ENEA for the Hydrogen Valley in Casaccia (Rome). The Hydrogen Innovation Center's research and testing activities will cover the entire hydrogen chain, from production technologies to transport and storage infrastructures and end uses, such as industrial applications (steel industry) and transport (fuel cell cars and trucks, ships and trains).

The Modena hub, where four UNIMORE researchers will initially work with the support of Snam personnel, will focus more specifically on automation and mobility. The three areas of study will be: automation of electrolyzer and fuel cell production chains, a prototype hydrogen refueling station built at the university using Italian technology and new applications to support self-driving vehicles, as well as IoT (Internet of Things) and AI (artificial intelligence) solutions for the mobility of the future. The hub will be a space where excellence from the world of academia, research and industry can meet and will open its doors to start-ups and technology providers who can develop their solutions and find potential applications.

The investments for the development of the project will be ensured by the founder and the industrial partners joining the initiative