Fueling the Future: Developing skills for the hydrogen revolution

The energy transition towards sustainable solutions has put the hydrogen economy in the spotlight. However, to be successful in delivering on its decarbonisation potential, the hydrogen sector needs a skilled workforce.

The REPowerEU's ambitious targets alongside the adoption of the key Fit for 55 files driving the demand for hydrogen, such as of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation and the Renewable Energy Directive, present a significant boost for the production, transport, distribution, and use of renewable hydrogen. Adding on that the EU’s renewed focus on building up a domestic manufacturing capacity for strategic sectors, including hydrogen, expressed in the Neto Zero Industry Act and it becomes clear that the hydrogen sector will require substantial public and private investments in both physical infrastructure as well as skilled workers.

Even before these initiatives, the rapid development of the European hydrogen value chain was anticipated* to generate approximately 1 million highly skilled jobs by 2030 and up to 5.4 million by 2050.

Skills development in the hydrogen sector is essential for Europe’s energy transition and building a competitive and resilient economy. If not approached properly and urgently, it can act as a bottleneck to the scale up of the sector.

To address the current skills shortage and anticipate future needs, policymakers, industry stakeholders, and knowledge providers must collaborate to understand the scope of the issue and to develop effective education and training programmes to equip individuals with the expertise needed to support the widespread adoption and integration of hydrogen technologies in the economy.

Speakers:

• Henning Ehrenstein, Grow Head of Unit D.1 “Skills, Services, Professions”, European Commission
• Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Squintani, Hydrogen Valley Campus Europe, HVCE
• Carla Reihle, Co-lead of Women in Green Hydrogen & International PtX Hub, GIZ
• Nikolaos Ntavos, Co-Founder and Manager, CluBE
• Ilona Grzyb, Lead Product Management Specialist, Baker Hughes
• Filippo Maria Rizzi, Hydrogen Innovation Specialist, Snam