Purposes at the moment are open for the primary Open Call of H2SHIFT, a European initiative designed to help startups and SMEs creating modern hydrogen manufacturing applied sciences. The decision is open till 18 March 2026 and targets firms working throughout the hydrogen worth chain, notably these creating alternate options to current market options or leveraging underexploited power sources.
The H2SHIFT venture brings collectively industrial companions, universities and analysis centres inside a single, built-in ecosystem of innovation providers. Its providing spans the whole growth pathway, from laboratory testing and technical validation to scale-up and enterprise growth help. Entry to those providers is offered by means of a system of cascading Open Calls managed through a Single Entry Level, permitting potential beneficiaries to use by means of one centralised entry level.
Growth platforms
The primary Open Name will choose a restricted variety of firms that may acquire subsidised entry to a few superior growth platforms:
- Politecnico di Torino’s take a look at infrastructures for direct hydrogen manufacturing from photo voltaic power.
- Youwind’s software program for modelling hydrogen manufacturing in an offshore surroundings.
- Resolvent’s multiphysics simulation platform to help design and scale-up of hydrogen manufacturing applied sciences.
At Politecnico di Torino, researchers will help firms creating thermochemical and photochemical hydrogen manufacturing processes. Domenico Ferrero and Francesco Orsini, respectively affiliate professor and researcher of the STEPS group on the Division of Power Galileo Ferraris, clarify: “Our Excessive-Flux Photo voltaic Simulator will allow the testing of prototypes of reactors, and their constituent supplies, for the thermochemical splitting of water, a course of that exploits solely the concentrated warmth of the solar to supply hydrogen and oxygen. This know-how doesn’t require electrical energy and subsequently represents an attention-grabbing various for the era of hydrogen from photo voltaic power”.
Additional help at Politecnico di Torino focuses on photo-electro-chemical hydrogen manufacturing. Simelys Hernandez, affiliate professor at CREST inside the Division of Utilized Science and Expertise, feedback: “We now have just lately acquired an ultrasonic machine for the manufacturing of large-scale photocatalytic cells with fixed thickness. This, along with our take a look at bench, will permit us to check and validate at scale new supplies and gadgets for the manufacturing of hydrogen by photoelectric means, utilizing solely daylight as a response motor”.
Youwind will present entry to its Software program as a Service platform, which helps the optimised design of onshore and offshore wind farms by integrating engineering and monetary modelling. The platform considers environmental and technical constraints, wake loss fashions, logistics and downtime optimisation, whereas monitoring chosen monetary indicators. Edvald Edvaldsson, Co-founder and CTO of Youwind, explains: “Our platform wants to contemplate the manufacturing and storage of hydrogen regionally to offshore wind farms, to signify and consider the enterprise alternative. The aim of the collaboration with firms by means of H2SHIFT’s open calls is exactly to additional develop our platform to incorporate manufacturing fashions and procure an estimate of the price of hydrogen generated with wind power”.
Resolvent’s contribution focuses on multiphysics modelling to help the evaluation and optimisation of advanced hydrogen manufacturing processes. Lene Gottrup Barfod, Managing Director and Accomplice at Resolvent, notes: “We supported a number of firms that wanted to confirm the functioning of their prototypes for a subsequent scale-up. Simulation with our platform permits us to check the perfect configurations and working situations for course of optimisation and is subsequently a really useful gizmo to help the event of an innovation from lab to market”.
How the appliance course of works
The applying course of requires firms to finish a web based kind and submit a video presentation outlining their innovation. As defined by Alissa Bauer of the Collège des Ingénieurs, who oversees the presidency of the Single Entry Level: “The applying process includes filling out a web based kind, to be complemented by a video presentation of the innovation. After the deadline of 18 March, the consortium of H2SHIFT will consider all of the purposes obtained and interview the finalists to pick out the 4 winners, one for every growth platform”.
Chosen firms could have as much as six months to work straight with consultants from Politecnico di Torino, Youwind and Resolvent. Trying forward, Mara Tumiati of the Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, organiser of the Open Calls, provides: “On the finish of 2026 all of the take a look at traces and providers of the H2SHIFT ecosystem might be made obtainable by means of a second open name, and eight different start-ups and/or SMEs that develop innovation in hydrogen manufacturing might be chosen”.
Additional particulars concerning the name and software course of can be found on the official H2SHIFT web site, which additionally hosts the recording of the venture’s launch webinar held on 26 November 2025. As well as, the venture will host two in-person occasions for innovators, one on 26 January 2026 in Paris on the Collège des Ingénieurs and one other on 4 February 2026 in Turin on the Surroundings Park. Registration for each occasions is out there through Eventbrite.
H2SHIFT, brief for Companies for Hydrogen Innovation Facilitation and Testing, is a Horizon Europe Open Innovation Take a look at Mattress venture offering entry to laboratories and specialised experience to help the validation and scale-up of hydrogen manufacturing applied sciences. Co-financed by the European Union, the venture is coordinated by Snam and supported by a consortium of 13 Italian and European companions to strengthen Europe’s management in hydrogen innovation.
H2SHIFT is a Horizon Europe venture (ID 101137953). Co-funded by the European Union. The contents of this publication are the only accountability of the authors and don’t essentially mirror the opinion of the European Union
