FAQ on EC's Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative

October 12, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

For more information, see IP/07/1468, Commission promotes take-up of hydrogen cars and the development of hydrogen technologies).

What is a joint technology initiative?
Details about the concept of a joint technology initiative (JTI) are given in EU Memo/07/191, Joint technology initiatives, a new EU research initiative: frequently asked questions.

What is the state of hydrogen and fuel cells research in the EU?
The current situation regarding hydrogen fuel and fuel cells research in the European Union (EU) includes the following facts:

• R&D in hydrogen fuel and fuel cells has received increasing levels of funding from EU Framework Programmes, from €8 million in the Second Framework Programme to €315 million in the Sixth Framework Programme.
• National funds available for research on hydrogen fuel and fuel cells are dispersed.
• There are still many technical and nontechnical barriers to overcome before widespread commercial availability is possible.
• Strong R&D competition is coming from other global players (not only the U.S. and Japan but, increasingly, China).

What are the risk factors today?
Risk factors present in a "business as usual" scenario include the following:

• The research needed is often so complex that no single fuel cell company or public research institution can perform it alone.
• There is no agreed upon long-term budget plan, nor strategic technical and market objectives, to encourage industry players to commit more of their own resources.
• There is insufficient integration of the EU R&D programme (from fundamental research to large-scale EU-level demonstrations).
• Technical breakthroughs are needed to improve performance and durability, plus to reduce system costs to meet the expectations of potential customers.

What are the elements of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI ?
The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI will be a new way of realising public-private research partnerships at the European level. This JTI will bring public and private interests together into a new, industry-led implementation structure. This structure will ensure that the jointly defined research programme will better match industry's needs and expectations, and accelerate the hydrogen and fuel cell technology acquisition and deployment process.

What is the added value of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI?
This new kind of research cooperation has a number of clear advantages:

• The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI will help shorten the time-to-market for hydrogen and fuel cells technologies by between two and five years.
• There will be a quicker impact on improving energy efficiency and security of supply, plus on reducing pollution and greenhouse gases.
• A predefined budget of sufficient critical mass and a six-year time horizon will raise confidence in public and private investors, thereby allowing industry to make long-term investment plans and manage its cash flows.
• Industry's lead role in defining priorities and timelines, in consultation with the EC and the research community, will ensure that full advantage is taken of the fundamental research capacities in universities and research centres and that R&D and demonstration efforts are integrated under common management.
• This JTI will create a stronger link between demonstration projects and fundamental and applied research projects, accelerating the pace of learning and moving faster along the experience curve.

What are the deliverables of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI?
The deliverables of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI include the following:

• This JTI will implement basic research and industrial applied R&D, demonstration actions and supporting activities, based on the work already done by the European Technology Platform.
• The intention with this JTI is to deliver robust hydrogen supply and fuel cell technologies developed to the point of commercial take-off.
• For the automotive sector, the aim is to achieve breakthroughs in bottleneck technologies and to enable industry to take the large-scale commercialisation decisions necessary to achieve mass market growth in the 2015-2020 timeframe.
• For stationary fuel cells (domestic and commercial) and portable applications, this JTI will provide the technology base to initiate market growth from 2010-2015.

What is the structure of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI?
The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI will be created by a decision of the European Council, after an opinion from the European Parliament. The further legislative process may then take several months to complete. In order to facilitate the start-up of this JTI and ensure a rapid transition to full operational readiness, the EC will enter into a grant agreement in 2007 with the industry grouping that will become the founding member of the JTI, along with the European Community. This will allow the setup of an interim JTI structure.

Here are more details:

• The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI will be established as a "joint undertaking," according to the provisions of Article 171 of the EC Treaty.
• This JTI will initially be established for ten years, and have its seat in Brussels.
• The founding members of the JTI are the European Community, represented by the EC and an industry grouping established as an international, not-for-profit association representing European industry interests.
• A similar grouping representing the interests of the European research community may be formed and become a member of the JTI.

How will the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI be financed?
The EC will contribute up to €470 million for the six-year period from 2007-2013. This, and any other public sources of funding that can be leveraged, have to be at least matched by private investments in JTI projects.

The costs for the basic administration of the JTI programme, estimated at about €20 million, will be shared 50% from the industry grouping and 50% from the other member(s) of the JTI.

How will the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI finance its projects?
Details of the JTI work programme and project financing include the following:

• Resources will be available to finance JTI projects.
• This JTI will develop its own work programme that will take into consideration the strategic documents developed by the hydrogen and fuel cells technology platform, and in particular the implementation plan. This plan contains a R&D programme with actions needed for a commercial take-off in the 2010-2020 timeframe.
• The implementation of the work programme of this JTI will be mainly through calls for proposals.
• This JTI will also take appropriate measures to leverage additional financing from other sources, including national and regional programmes, as well as exploring opportunities to make use of the Seventh Research Programme's Risk-Sharing Finance Facility (with the European Investment Bank).
• It is expected that member states and regions may invest directly or indirectly into those JTI projects of interest to them. A flexible set of mechanisms will be put in place to allow their optimal participation in JTI activities.

How will the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI be governed?
Governance plans for the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI include the following:

• The executive bodies of this JTI will be the governing board and the executive director, assisted by the staff in a programme office.
• The governing board will be composed of representatives of the industry grouping, the EC and, if established, the research grouping. The governing board shall have overall responsibility for the operations of the JTI, including implementation of the activities, approval of the annual implementation plan, budget, accounts and balance sheet, approval of the list of selected project proposals.
• The programme office will, under the responsibility of the executive director, be in charge of the daily management of this JTI as well as managing the launch of the calls for project proposals, the evaluation and selection of the projects, among other duties.
• The scientific committee is an advisory body to the governing board.
• The high-level member states group will follow the work of this JTI and advise the governing board.

Source: European Commission.

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