On 5 February 2026, the second Partners Meeting of the H2READY project took place. The meeting brought together all project partners for an operational discussion on the state of progress of the activities and, in particular, on the first results emerging from the territorial analyses carried out in the pilot municipalities. The meeting was held in one of the pilot municipalities itself, San Vito al Tagliamento, which hosted the partnership at the Municipal Building and followed the discussion, thus benefiting from a comprehensive overview of the project activities.
A central part of the meeting was dedicated to the activity “Analysis of energy needs and identification of opportunities”, coordinated by APE FVG and GOLEA. Partners shared the methodological approach adopted for the selection of pilot municipalities and for the analysis of the sectors with the highest potential, with a particular focus on hard-to-abate industry, transport and logistics.
The analyses presented highlighted the strong heterogeneity of the territories involved, ranging from strategic industrial and logistics areas to rural and mountainous contexts, as well as border municipalities characterised by high levels of cross-border traffic. This diversity represents one of the project’s key strengths, allowing hydrogen-based solutions to be tested and assessed in very different territorial settings.
Following the launch of the project in June 2025, H2READY is now entering a crucial phase, in which analytical work is progressively translated into a deeper understanding of local energy needs and the real opportunities for hydrogen use in cross-border contexts.
During the discussion, concrete examples of potential hydrogen applications emerged, including the decarbonisation of high-temperature industrial processes, the development of infrastructure for heavy-duty transport, and innovative solutions for energy storage and the resilience of local energy systems. The information gathered through the analysis of energy needs provides the foundation for subsequent project activities, which will lead to the development of guidelines, operational models and local action plans.
Significant attention was also given to the planning of upcoming activities aimed at strengthening the capacity of local administrations to plan and implement hydrogen-based solutions. Partners discussed the progress of training activities for municipal staff, the structure of future planning workshops, and the launch of activities focused on the harmonisation of public procurement procedures, in order to promote joint investments and cross-border solutions based on green hydrogen.
The Partners Meeting in San Vito al Tagliamento confirmed the role of H2READY as a cross-border experimentation laboratory, in which territories actively contribute to the energy transition. The results achieved so far represent a fundamental step towards the development of realistic, jointly developed and territorially tailored hydrogen solutions for the Italy–Slovenia cross-border area.
