Introduction
A UK-France summit was held in Paris on 10 March 2023. Former Prime Minister Sunak and President Macron agreed a bilateral energy partnership focusing on the transition to a net zero energy system.
The partnership included working on hydrogen. Seizing this opportunity and aligning this with our research priorities, SIN France brought the UK's 2 national hydrogen research hubs, UK HyRES and UK HiACT, on board to organise a brokerage event between the hubs and their equivalent in France.
Reaching out to the French national hydrogen research network (FRH2), which boasts an extensive ecosystem of over 300 researchers and 30 laboratories, we learnt that the FRH2 regularly holds workshops with international researchers. However, they had not yet met with any British networks. This was an opportunity to make introductions.
UK-France hydrogen exchange
After several preliminary online meetings between the researchers to understand their needs and interests, on 30 January 2024 a group of 6 hydrogen researchers from the UK national hubs crossed the channel to embark on a 3-day programme of discovery in France.
During their visit, they attended the French hydrogen tradeshow Hyvolution. They visited CNRS hydrogen hubs in the Greater Paris region (ICMPE in Thiais, l'Institut d'Energie Soutenable - Sustainable Energy Institute) as well as the Ecole CentraleSupélec at Saclay University).
Their visit culminated in a bilateral workshop at the British Embassy Paris. French and UK researchers, joined by representatives from the French research ministry, the CNRS, UK Research & Innovation and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, presented on the UK and French hydrogen landscapes and shared ideas for collaboration around materials, usage, and production.
Impact
The French and UK participants made invaluable contacts through the workshop and visits. An immediate outcome was a strong bilateral hydrogen strand at the first Franco-British Science, Innovation and Tech dialogue held in London in February 2024. There will also be a follow-up UK-France hydrogen workshop in the UK.
Longer term, the researchers intend to set up a UK-France Hydrogen Research Working Group to explore collaboration around sharing of research facilities, data networks, researcher exchanges, internships, and visits, as well as joint research funding. This will include new opportunities via Horizon Europe.
