25 June 2026
Prof. Peter Wasserscheid of Forschungszentrum Jülich is to take over the coordination of the European Energy Research Alliance's (EERA) "Clean Hydrogen" research programme. The programme brings together European research expertise in the field of hydrogen technologies and forms part of a network of more than 250 research organizations and universities across Europe.
The European Energy Research Alliance is closely involved in the European Union's Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan), which coordinates the development of key energy and climate technologies in Europe. Forschungszentrum Jülich is a member of the EERA and participates in several of its research programmes.
In the "Clean Hydrogen" programme, researchers from numerous countries work together to further develop the scientific foundations and technological prospects of hydrogen as an energy carrier and basic chemical. The programme works closely with other important stakeholders across the European hydrogen research and innovation ecosystem, in particular with "Hydrogen Europe Research", the "Clean Hydrogen Partnership", and the SET Plan's hydrogen working group.
In terms of its scope, the programme covers not only the production and use of hydrogen in electrochemical conversion systems but also a broad range of chemical hydrogen storage technologies, as well as potential applications in industry, mobility, process heat, energy trading, and strategic energy storage. The programme is complemented by aspects of method development and systems analysis. Overall, the activities of the EERA programme are intended to help establish a European hydrogen economy that promotes sustainability and resilience while remaining cost-competitive.
"I am really pleased about the trust placed in me by the members of the EERA Joint Programme "Clean Hydrogen" and my appointment as programme coordinator. Europe can draw on a strong network of research and innovation stakeholders that brings together excellent scientific and technological expertise across the entire hydrogen value chain. A particular strength of the network lies in use-inspired basic research, which generates new insights and paves the way for technical applications. We aim to strengthen the links between these areas of expertise across Europe. I look forward to working with our partners to advance European hydrogen research and the development of innovative hydrogen technologies."
Prof. Peter Wasserscheid is a director at the Institute for a sustainable Hydrogen Economy (IHE) as well as at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN), both of which are part of Forschungszentrum Jülich. He also holds the Chair of Chemical Reaction Engineering at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. His research is focused on the field of chemical hydrogen storage as well as innovative processes for the production, transport, and utilization of hydrogen.
