On Thursday January 29th, project partners from the province of Drenthe met for an innovative session on energy. Together with the other Interreg projects at the province covering the themes of energy, project partners exchanged information with interested colleagues. A total of five projects gathered for an engaging session with colleagues from a multitude of teams. Promoting connection and information exchange is at the heart of what these Interreg projects aim to achieve, both within the projects and beyond.
GRITH project leader Henk talks to H2IGNITE's project partner.
What was the programme?
To boost the general knowledge on the potential of Interreg at the province of Drenthe, the session wanted to build an important foundation for further engagement. The programme was set up to achieve this as following:
- What is Interreg? An interview with Drenthe's Interreg Coordinator Tineke Smegen
- Which projects do we do in the theme of energy? - An introduction
- Interactive session with the Drentse project leaders
- Opportunity for a quick chat
- Interactive follow-up "What does this accomplish for Drenthe?"
- Opportunity to speak to your favourite project (leader)
The goal of exchanging information and building bridges with the colleagues at the province was achieved through this interactive programme. Waking up sleeping beauties is enabled by knowing the potential for development in this area. People at the province working on GRITH are now more informed about the other projects and information exchange potential - and vice versa. Additionally, a broader amount of information exchange can be achieved as colleagues working on energy (or other adjacent themes) equally are more informed and able to collaborate or engage with the projects.
Opportunities were present for in-depth discussions and dialogue.
European Energy in Drenthe
The lunch was a collaboration of five Interreg projects, three from the Interreg North Sea programme, and two from Interreg Europe.
H2IGNITE is focused on promoting green hydrogen transport across the North Sea region through the connecting of business policy and innovation. The project targets a broad scope of stakeholders with real-world opportunities through the piloting of new business models for regional hydrogen ecosystems. For more information, see here.
LIHYP stands for linking hydrogen power potential. This project is aiming to unite stakeholders to build a regional hydrogen economy in the North Sea region. The project aims to bring together hydrogen demand-supply stakeholders and gives the opportunity to collaborate and connect. For more information, see here.
GRITH is unique at Drenthe as the province is lead partner in this project. With the goal of waking up the sleeping beauties at industrial areas in the energy transition, the project aims to boost green energy options in these specific areas. For more information, you are on the right website.
DISCO is advancing DIStrict heating and COoling solutions for efficient waste heat utilisation. This is one of two Interreg Europe project and thus has a more policy-oriented approach. It specifically focuses on the lost waste heat from industries that consume large amount of energy such as fuel, heat, steam, and electricity. For more information, see here.
GH2M hopes to accelerate the deployment of green hydrogen mobility in European Union regions. The project also is in Interreg Europe and targets the mobility sector specifically as this sector is responsible for 25% of total CO2 emissions in the EU-27 which equally results in air and noise pollution. For more information, see here.
Henk speaks to the room of colleagues.
Collaboration and Future Opportunities
The lunch session on energy in Europe allowed lots of information exchange and sharing of ideas and visions. It helped build a foundation at the province for what European energy projects can do for the province, and what the province can do for the energy in Europe.
As Drenthe's projectmanager Henk Slabbekoorn put it:
The interaction with the audience was very inspiring. This is such a good example of how European collaboration can strengthen and accelerate our goals.