The H2Excellence project will build a platform of Centres of Vocational Excellence by enabling “skills, knowledge and research ecosystems” for innovation, regional development, smart specialisation, and public support of green hydrogen technologies.

The project will implement the green hydrogen Centers of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) between VET providers, academic and industrial partners in six Erasmus+ EU countries focused on hydrogen technologies including production, storage, distribution and end-use applications.

In line with the ambitious EU Green Deal goals and energy transition targets, the developed Centers will enable the EU to address existing skills gap market and prepare to exploit opportunities provided by the green hydrogen growing market. Global green hydrogen market size is valued at circa €0.98 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach €12.8 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 67.8% from 2021 to 2026.

The H2Excellence project will promote knowledge exchange and provide examples of best practices and flagship initiatives of large-scale projects and industrial projects with potential for replicability across Europe, while creating awareness of opportunities and vocational needs in sectors that will scale up in the years to come.

The core focus of the H2Excellence project is to upskill, train and educate the workforce, by designing and implementing dedicated programmes and initiatives to enable specialisation of the workforce in green hydrogen sector technologies including installation, operation, maintenance, storage, transport, and safety trainings.

H2Excellence will provide training, tools, and technical support to SMEs willing to gain expertise, capabilities, and resources to support the upskilling of their employees in critical areas of the value chain, enabling more efficient and sustainable green hydrogen production.

This will be done in collaboration with research and industrial partners in the consortium, who will provide technical training sessions tailored to the needs of SMEs.

H2Excellence is aimed at creating CoVEs fully integrated into the innovation, skills, and job ecosystem of the respective regions. Best practices in cities, policy driven incentives programmes and regulatory aspects at regional, national, and European level will be identified and promoted to allow for integrated ecosystems, contributing to regional development, inclusion, growth, and innovation.