On October 14, a new follow-up meeting of BIH4C, the innovation hub for the decarbonisation of Basque industry, coordinated by the Basquenergy Cluster and comprising 10 companies and entities, was held at Tecnalia’s headquarters in Donostia. During the session, the partners shared the progress made on the demonstrators they are developing and saw Tecnalia’s electrolyser and hydrogen laboratories first-hand.
The BIH4C Working Group is part of the European project “IS2H4C – From Industrial Symbiosis to Hubs for Circularity”, which aims to drive decarbonisation in different industries through the search for and implementation of energy synergies, the efficient use of resources, and technological innovation, and involves the creation of four innovation hubs in the Basque Country, Germany, the Netherlands, and Turkey. The Basque hub is composed of Tecnalia, Sidenor, Calcinor, Lointek, SBS, Petronor Innovación, Smurfit Kappa, Nortegas, the Bilbao Bizkaia Water Consortium, and BASQUENERGY Cluster.
During the follow-up meeting, the progress of the European project was reviewed, focusing on the three main pillars on which the Basque hub works: the mobilisation of agents within the Basque ecosystem; the development of models to simulate and optimise the use of resources and the identification of industrial synergies; and, finally, the demonstration of innovative technologies through pilot projects in real industrial environments.
Subsequently, new initiatives and collaboration opportunities in the field of industrial decarbonisation were presented. These included a new collaborative proposal comprising several demo projects derived from analyses carried out by Tecnalia to identify potential new synergies, as well as the opportunity to promote new projects within the framework of the Renewable Fuels Roadmap in the Basque Country 2030, prepared by the EIC, which has recently concluded its technological prioritisation process for future calls for aid.
The meeting concluded with a visit to the electrolyser and the hydrogen laboratories, where the partners were able to learn first-hand about the R activities developed by Tecnalia.