Joint Technology Initiative on Fuel Cells and Hydrogen powers up

All aboard: the world's first certified fuel cell boat (HYDRA) realised by Christian Machens, on the Karl-Heine Kanal in Leipzig, Germany, in 2000.

This JTI is expected to get €470 million over six years from Framework Programme 7, which will be matched by contributions from industrial partners taking part in the public private partnership.

Founding members of the JTI include a majority of Europe’s fuel cells and hydrogen companies from start ups to multinationals.

“The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative represents a major milestone in the way the EU conducts target-oriented research by partnering with the industry, which will increase the overall resources available for R&D and will allow for better coordination with National and Regional Programmes,” said the Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potočnik.

“It will put Europe in the pole position in the race for the development and deployment of these new technologies.”

At the same time, the JTI is seen as a plank of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan, which aims to accelerate the development and implementation of low carbon technologies.

The main goal of the JTI is to speed up the development of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies in Europe and enable their commercialisation between 2010 and 2020. The partnership will carry out an integrated programme of basic and applied research, supported by technology development activities and demonstrations of the most promising applications.

EU-sponsored research indicates that hydrogen could reduce the total oil consumption by the road transport by 40 per cent between now and 2050, leading to a 50 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions. The cost break-even point could be reached between 2025 and 2035.

The birth of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI is the culmination of a six-year effort, begun when the High Level Group for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies developed a common and collective vision on the contribution that these technologies could make. The industry-led European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform launched in June 2003 then developed the strategy.