IH-MIE accelerates hydrogen mobility by connecting regions, SMEs and innovations across Europe.
Almost 25% of Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transport, and hydrogen-powered mobility is an important solution for sustainable transport. Recognizing its importance, the European Union (EU) has positioned hydrogen as a strategic pillar of its European Green Deal and Hydrogen Strategy, highlighting its role in achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
The IHMIE (European Interregional Hydrogen Mobility Initiative) project, co-funded by the European Union within the Interregional Innovation Investment (I3) scheme and led by Spain’s Galicia Automotive Technology Center, aims to establish a robust ecosystem of hydrogen-powered mobility across Europe that fosters innovation, accelerates adoption and bridges the gap between developed and underdeveloped regions.
H2 challenges in mobility
Lack of infrastructure: As of 2023, there are 265 hydrogen refueling stations in Europe. This limited infrastructure hinders widespread adoption.
High costs and economic barriers: The cost of producing green hydrogen in Europe ranges from €5 to €8 per kilogram, making it less competitive with traditional fuels and posing major challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises that lack the financial resources to invest in expensive technology or expand their operations.
Fragmented ecosystems: Many regions lack a coherent value chain, slowing innovation and market deployment.
Policy gaps: Fragmented policies, inconsistent incentives, and regulatory hurdles such as allowing for delays and underdevelopment of hydrogen infrastructure.
Technology integration: Reconciling hydrogen mobility with existing transportation systems and other renewable energy sources will require significant innovation.
Public Awareness and Perceptions: Limited public understanding of hydrogen technology and safety concerns reduce consumer demand and adoption.
Intersectoral coordination: Progress has been slow due to weak coordination among stakeholders and underdeveloped integration with sectors such as logistics and public transport.
Regional disparities: Regions with high renewable energy potential lack diverse ecosystems and SME participation, making stronger cooperation and ecosystem development important.
value proposition
A central pillar of the IH-MIE initiative is its focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are widely recognized as the key drivers of innovation in Europe’s clean mobility transition. While hydrogen infrastructure discussions are often dominated by large industries, IH-MIE directly addresses existing market and ecosystem gaps by fostering regional cooperation and putting small and medium-sized enterprises at the center of technology development, demonstration, and market uptake, especially in regions where hydrogen ecosystems are still emerging.
To address these challenges, IH-MIE is leveraging a Hydrogen Mobility Interregional Hub designed to foster innovation, investment, and collaboration across participating regions. The hub will strengthen the hydrogen mobility value chain by connecting regional ecosystems, clusters and industry players, linking production, infrastructure and end-use applications through regionally coordinated activities.
IH-MIE’s key differentiator is the development and demonstration of actual pilot projects in participating regions. Seven small business-led pilots will validate hydrogen mobility solutions in production environments, demonstrating performance, scalability, and reproducibility. Through regional cooperation, developed regions will contribute expertise and best practices, while less developed and transitional regions will benefit from targeted knowledge transfer, reducing regional disparities and accelerating the deployment of hydrogen mobility solutions across Europe.
To lower entry barriers for SMEs, IH-MIE has introduced a cascading funding mechanism that provides direct financial support through competitive public offerings. The scheme will support up to 30 SMEs across participating regions and will provide individual grants of up to €60,000 per beneficiary. The call will address identified challenges across the value chain, as well as specific gaps from use cases that ensure collaboration across regions and in practice. Funding will be awarded through a transparent merit-based procedure, with emphasis on technical readiness, market relevance and potential to contribute to regional and interregional hydrogen mobility value chains. Supported solutions go beyond hardware development to include systems integration, digital solutions, services and innovative business models.
Financial support is complemented by a structured framework of development, mentoring and coaching. Selected SMEs will receive tailored support from the consortium’s experienced clusters, research centers and industry experts, covering regulatory compliance, certification pathways, safety standards and cross-border market access. This integrated approach ensures that funded innovations are not only technically sound, but also commercially and operationally viable.
This article will also be published in the quarterly magazine issue 26.
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