ValHyCon
ValHyCon (Interregional Connecting and Upscaling Hydrogen Valleys) is an Interreg North-West Europe project that addresses a key bottleneck in Europe’s hydrogen transition: moving from fragmented, locally focused hydrogen valleys towards a coherent, large-scale and interconnected hydrogen ecosystem. While numerous regional hydrogen valleys have emerged across Europe, many remain isolated initiatives with limited coordination, shared planning, or integration across borders. ValHyCon aims to overcome these barriers by bringing together leading hydrogen valley initiatives across North-West Europe to strengthen mutual learning, develop concrete upscaling and interconnection scenarios, and deliver a joint Hydrogen Implementation Strategy for the 2030–2040 period.
The project focuses on supporting the transition from early pilot initiatives to mature hydrogen ecosystems by improving coordination between regions, stakeholders and infrastructure development plans. Through structured knowledge exchange, stakeholder workshops and collaborative analysis, ValHyCon examines how hydrogen valleys can evolve from local demonstration projects into interconnected regional systems. Particular attention is given to identifying practical pathways for scaling hydrogen production, distribution and use across sectors such as industry, mobility and energy systems.
My role at the University of Luxembourg focuses on leveraging experience from coordinating the Luxembourg Hydrogen Valley (LuxHyVal) to support transnational knowledge exchange, system integration and strategic planning. A particular emphasis lies on linking Luxembourg’s activities with neighbouring and north-west European hydrogen valleys, ensuring that smaller but strategically positioned regions are fully embedded in emerging hydrogen corridors and value chains.
Through contributions to ecosystem mapping, interconnection case studies and the development of long-term implementation strategies, the University of Luxembourg helps ensure that insights from regional hydrogen valleys feed into a broader European perspective. By strengthening collaboration between research institutions, industry partners and public authorities, ValHyCon ultimately supports the transition from pilot projects to integrated, investment-ready hydrogen systems across North-West Europe.
