Supporting Hydrogen Technologies Deployment in EU Regions and Member States: The Smart Specialisation Platform on Energy (S3PEnergy)

In order to maximise European, national and regional research and innovation potential the European Union is investing in these fields through different funding mechanisms such as the ESIF or H2020 programme. This investment plan is part of the European 2020 strategy, where the concept of Smart Specialisation is also included.
Smart Specialisation is an innovation policy concept designed to promote the efficient and effective use of public investment in regional innovation in order to achieve economic growth. The Smart Specialisation Platform was created to support this concept by assisting regions and Member States in developing, implementing and reviewing their research and innovation Smart Specialisation strategies.
The Smart Specialisation Platform comprises several thematic platforms. The thematic Smart Specialisation Platform on energy (S3PEnergy) is a joint initiative of three European Commission services: DG REGIO, DG ENER, and the Joint Research Centre (JRC). The main objective of the S3PEnergy is to support the optimal and effective uptake of the Cohesion Policy funds for energy, and to better align energy innovation activities at national, local and regional level through the identification of the technologies and innovative solutions that support in the most cost-effective way the EU energy policy priorities.
In the particular case of hydrogen technologies, the activities of the platform are mainly focused on supporting the new Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) initiative involving regions and cities. To date, more than 80 European cities and regions have committed to participate in this initiative through the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding, and more participants are expected to join. S3PEnergy is helping in the identification of potential combination of H2020 funding (provided through FCH JU) and ESIF.
To identify potential synergies among these two funding sources, a mapping of the different ESIF opportunities has been performed. In order to map these opportunities, Operational Programmes (OPs) and research and innovation strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) of the different European regions and Member States were analysed. The results of this mapping and analysis are presented in this paper."