NASCHA – North Adriatic Smart Communities Hydrogen Accelerator

NASCHA is a transnational project that aims to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen-based technological solutions in the North Adriatic region (Friuli Venezia Giulia, Slovenia, Croatia) and beyond.

The fundamental goal of NASCHA is to transform innovative green hydrogen-based solutions from promising ideas into market-ready applications. In technical terms, this means bringing technologies from an advanced development status (TRL 6) to the maximum level of maturity (TRL 9), making them immediately usable and replicable. This will be achieved through the development of three Smart Communities of Practice (SCoP) and the implementation of five interconnected pilot projects concerning the value chains of transport and mobility, urban areas, sustainable irrigation, and energy storage and distribution.

The project integrates and shares knowledge between regions with strong innovation and less developed regions, contributing significantly to the European Green Deal, the Hydrogen Strategy, and the EU’s sustainability, innovation, and cohesion objectives.

OBJECTIVES

The project is based on three main pillars:

• experimentation – for the transformation of innovation into practice: demonstrating that hydrogen technologies can truly function, even on a large scale. Five pilot projects will be implemented in key sectors across the three territories involved (transport and mobility, urban areas, sustainable irrigation, energy storage and distribution) to test and validate the solutions until they are market-ready.
• collaboration – Collaborative networks will connect researchers, businesses, and users to share know-how and will bring to life three Smart Communities of Practice (SCoP) in Slovenia (Ajdovscina, Celje) and Croatia (Cres), which will serve as hubs for hydrogen experimentation and knowledge exchange
• scalability of tested solutions – ensuring the widespread adoption of green hydrogen, helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) enter the market and facilitating investment. The project will provide financial and technical support to at least 20 SMEs through cascade funding calls and training programs. Furthermore, a Replicability Package will be created to allow other European regions to adopt the NASCHA model.

MAIN RESULTS

1. Implement 5 hydrogen pilots (TRL 6+) and feasibility investment and strengthen capacities in 3 value chains;
2. Develop 3 Smart Communities of Practice based on local hydrogen alliances around the quadruple helix actors;
3. Advance hydrogen storage and transmission technologies to boost availability and market competitiveness;
4. Create an investable portfolio of hydrogen solutions and prepare for market scaling through an acceleration program;
5. Promote H2 uptake across the EU via standardisation and transnational technology transfer.

NASCHA contributes to a robust cross-border green hydrogen ecosystem, thereby accelerating the green energy transition of the entire North Adriatic region.