The northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna has unveiled plans to host a tender for the construction of green hydrogen production facilities in abandoned industrial areas.

Projects would be relatively small, at 1-10MW, but the aim is to stimulate local demand for renewable hydrogen in industries such as petrochemicals, ceramics, cement and paper, and in logistics and local transport — especially those sectors “which today use fossil hydrogen for non-energy purposes and which cannot be completely electrified”, the regional council said.

The legislature aims to approve the tender by the end of January — for areas identified by local authorities and the federal Ministry of the Environment and Energy security as abandoned or decommissioned.