On Wednesday, March 20, the “Haus der Industrie” in Vienna hosted the kick-off event to develop a hydrogen strategy. This strategy is being developed by the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT) with the participation of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Technology (BMVIT) in close cooperation with science, industry and industry by the end of this year.

“In order to achieve our climate goals, we must make even more intensive use of all future-oriented technologies. In # mission2030 – the Austrian climate and energy strategy – we have now sketched the way we implement a lighthouse step by step with the hydrogen strategy. Only with companies and industry as partners can a successful energy turnaround succeed. Renewable hydrogen will play an important role in this, “said Energy Minister Elisabeth Köstinger.

Hydrogen a European success story

During the Austrian Council Presidency in 2018 Köstinger continued with the Hydrogen Initiative A strong European signal at the informal energy ministers’ meeting in Linz. The Declaration, which advocates the use of renewable hydrogen technology, was supported by 26 Member States, the European Commission, 2 EFTA States and some 100 companies, organizations and institutions. “Renewable hydrogen is an ‘all-rounder’, as one would say in skiing. Hydrogen has the potential to revolutionize our energy system in the long term. It can help us as a long-term storage, for the integration of electricity and heat, in industry and in the transport sector. In this way he shows possibilities for a clean and sustainable energy future. So also those sectors can be decarbonised.

The hydrogen strategy is now part of the contents of the Hydrogen Initiative and is nationally on track. The elaborated targets and measures will be included in the national climate and energy plan, which will be submitted to the European Commission by the end of this year and which will already be partially implemented in the Renewable Development Act (EAG) 2020.