Hannover Fairs International to Launch HYPE Hydrogen Trade Show in Italy
Hannover Fairs International GmbH (HFI), a subsidiary of Deutsche Messe AG, is set to launch a new hydrogen trade show under the name HYPE, the Hydrogen Power Expo, in Rimini, Italy from March 5 to 7, in collaboration with Italian Exhibition Group (IEG).
This complements the successfully established KEY Energy trade fair, within the sphere of which the following trade events take place: SEC Solar Expo & Conference, WEM – Wind Expo for Med, KSE – Key Storage Expo, EFFI – Energy Efficiency Expo, EME – eMobility Expo, Sustainable City. With more than 800 exhibiting companies, 35 percent of which hail from outside Italy, KEY, including HYPE, spans a total exhibition area of 90,000 square meters. Around 54,000 visitors are expected, of whom some 15 percent will be coming from abroad.
HYPE offers the exhibiting companies a platform and networking opportunities to showcase and promote their expertise, know-how and technologies. It establishes a further international forum for the hydrogen community to advance the discussion on the use of hydrogen and its role in the energy transition. This new event is supported by Hydrogen & Fuel Cells EUROPE, which takes place annually as part of HANNOVER MESSE and is Europe’s premier trade show for hydrogen and fuel cells in an industrial context.
Italy as an energy hub at the center of Europe
The cooperation agreements signed recently by the Italian government with several other countries reinforce the peninsula’s role as a natural link between the African continent and Europe. Particularly worthy of note among the projects resulting from these agreements is the South H2 Corridor, a pipeline network spanning approximately 3,300 km and designed to transport green hydrogen from Algeria and Tunisia to Central European markets via Italy. Companies from Germany, Austria, and Italy, for example, are involved in the project.
This “hydrogen highway” will be integrated into the existing network of gas pipelines between North Africa and Italy, and figures among the EU’s cross-border infrastructure projects. It is planned to go live in 2030 with a transport capacity of 4 million metric tons of hydrogen per year.
As part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) focused on revitalizing the economy after the pandemic crisis, 3.64 billion euros were made available in Italy to bolster the supply chain. Of this amount, 500 million euros have been specifically allocated for funding the development of 54 “Hydrogen Valleys” across the country in regions including Trentino-Alto Adige, Lombardy, Lazio, Campania, Puglia, and Sicily. Hydrogen Valleys are ecosystems in specific geographical areas where the efficient production and use of green hydrogen in industry and transport is facilitated by the development of cutting-edge infrastructures and technologies. They are a fundamental element of Italy’s new energy strategy.
