Third German-Greek Research and Innovation Programme

The third German-Greek research and innovation programme follows on from the successful previous editions in 2013 and 2016 and marks the beginning of joint research in the field of green hydrogen between the two countries. The announcement aims to intensify knowledge transfer between research and industry and to translate novel research results into market-ready prototypes. In addition, cooperation between German and Greek institutions is to be promoted in order to lay the foundations for a research, development and innovation partnership that will continue beyond the project period.

Funding is provided in two modules:

Module A supports collaborative projects with partners from science and industry along the entire green hydrogen value chain, from production to storage and transport to utilization, including overarching systemic issues. The projects should be highly relevant to practice and identify strategies for implementing the research results in politics, society and the economy.

Module B supports accompanying scientific projects in which the projects from Module A are analysed in terms of their potential for knowledge and technology transfer and possible suggestions for improvement are developed.

The following measures are eligible for funding:

Module A: International collaborative research projects with partners from science and industry (2 + 2)

Funding is available for research and development projects as collaborative projects along the entire green hydrogen value chain, from production, storage and transport to utilization, including overarching, systemic issues, which, in accordance with the purpose of the grant, address one or more of the following priority topics in international cooperation with partners from Greece:

• Research projects on the production of green hydrogen and the development of innovative production technologies and their upscaling. This also includes combining these technologies with technologies for the sustainable provision of the necessary raw material, water, for example through seawater desalination using renewable energies, direct seawater electrolysis or wastewater treatment. Other efficient forms of water splitting, for example with decoupled hydrogen and oxygen evolution or disruptive processes, may also be the subject of projects.
• Research projects on the production of hydrogen derivatives based on green hydrogen. This includes the conversion of hydrogen into chemical raw materials and synthetic fuels (e.g. ammonia, e-kerosene, e-diesel, methanol, other alcohols). The development of so-called ‘on-site container solutions’ (plants that produce the desired derivative on site in combined process steps) is also possible.
• Research projects for the storage and transport of green hydrogen. This includes, for example, materials research in the field of hydrogen tanks and hydrogen pipelines, as well as carrier substances for all forms of transport (e.g. liquid hydrogen, LOHC, ammonia) and research into safety aspects.
• Research projects on the integration of hydrogen (and derivatives) into the energy system.
• Research projects on the integrated application of green hydrogen in areas that cannot otherwise be decarbonized. These include, for example, fuel cell vehicles in the automotive and heavy goods vehicle sectors, e-fuels in agriculture, the decarbonization of steel and chemical companies, and the switch to e-kerosene in aviation.

The following aspects can be integrated

• Investigate general issues of materials research and process development.
• Accompanying analyses/system studies on the production and integration of green hydrogen into the energy system (e.g. simulations/modelling, techno-economic analyses, potential analyses, path assessments, feasibility studies).
• consider the entire energy system, including integration and sector coupling;
• design business models;
• take academic and vocational training into account and integrate it into research and development work;
• promote public acceptance of hydrogen and hydrogen infrastructure.

Module B: Scientific accompanying project

A comprehensive accompanying project (individual or joint project) is intended to strengthen the knowledge and technology transfer of the projects from Module A. By providing a theoretical framework, it should help to bridge the gap between basic research and application-oriented research, thereby supporting the innovation orientation of the collaborative projects, improving their competitiveness and ensuring the effectiveness of the projects' research results.