NASCHA, the cross-border accelerator for a hydrogen value chain

With the kick-off meeting that began today and will conclude tomorrow, 27 November, NASCHA – North Adriatic Smart Communities Hydrogen Accelerator is officially launched. The new initiative aims to accelerate the development and adoption of renewable hydrogen-based technologies within the North Adriatic ecosystem. The European project, which will last 36 months, has a total value of approximately EUR 11 million, of which EUR 7.9 million are funded by the I3 – Interregional Innovation Investments Instrument. NASCHA represents the natural evolution and a major extension of the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley (NAHV) initiative, inheriting its vision of an integrated, resilient and interregional hydrogen value chain. It further strengthens this vision through demonstration activities, scalability tools for the proposed solutions, and dedicated acceleration programmes for SMEs.

The project, led by Area Science Park, brings together 20 public and private organisations from Italy (mainly Friuli Venezia Giulia), Slovenia and Croatia, representing the entire hydrogen value chain: research institutions, innovative SMEs, large companies, business support organisations, universities and local authorities.

NASCHA aims to develop three Smart Communities of Practice and two pilot projects to advance solutions based on new technologies in the green hydrogen sector from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 to TRL 9, making them ready for the market and for investment.

In addition to developing three Smart Communities of Practice (SCP) in the cities of Celje, Ajdovščina (Slovenia) and Cres (Croatia)—aimed at demonstrating the effectiveness of green hydrogen applications respectively in in urban areas, sustainable irrigation, and transport and mobility respectively through the integration of innovators, businesses, public administrations and research centres—the project also aims to strengthen the ecosystem for hydrogen production, storage and distribution across the North Adriatic territories. NASCHA indeed integrates and shares knowledge between highly innovative regions and less developed regions in the EU hydrogen value chains, contributing to the European Green Deal, the EU Hydrogen Strategy, and broader decarbonisation goals.

“NASCHA contributes to accelerating the energy transition across the North Adriatic”, explains Alberto Soraci, project coordinator. “It aims to strengthen the hydrogen ecosystem by contributing to the European Green Deal. It also reinforces cross-border cooperation and the integration of technologies into key value chains such as transport and urban areas, ensuring long-term impact and enabling the replication of best practices by other regions”.

One of the most innovative elements of the initiative is the allocation of dedicated funds for businesses: NASCHA will support at least 20 SMEs through cascade funding (up to EUR 60,000 each) and advanced business acceleration and investor readiness programmes.

The project will also develop a set of tools designed to facilitate the adoption of the NASCHA model in other European Hydrogen Valleys, including standardised procedures, know-how for third-party selection, and matchmaking services for investors.

Project partners: Area Science Park (coordinator), META Group, ETRA, Italian Business Angels Network Association, Občina Ajdovščina, STEMwise, META Circularity, CTS H2, Grad CRES, OTRA, RRA PORIN, SIST, ECUBES, Inkubator, PATRIA, University of Zagreb – Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, Energetika, Institut Jožef Stefan, Mestna Občina Celje, INCOM.

Co-financed through the I3 Instrument implemented by EISMEA.