Hannover Fairs International is hosting a hydrogen exhibition in Italy for the very first time. This complements the successfully established KEY Energy trade fair, within the sphere of which the following trade events take place: SEC Solar Expo & Conference, WEM - Wind Expo for Med, KSE - Key Storage Expo, EFFI - Energy Efficiency Expo, EME - eMobility Expo, Sustainable City. With more than 800 exhibiting companies, 35% of which hail from outside Italy, KEY, including HYPE, spans a total exhibition area of 90,000 square meters. Around 54,000 visitors are expected, of whom some 15% will be coming from abroad.

Hannover Fairs International GmbH (HFI), a subsidiary of Deutsche Messe AG, is set to launch a new hydrogen trade show under the name HYPE, the Hydrogen Power Expo, in Rimini from March 5 to 7, 2025, in collaboration with Italian Exhibition Group (IEG). The event will take place as part of the KEY Energy trade fair, enhancing Italy's role in the hydrogen market.

HYPE offers the exhibiting companies a platform and networking opportunities to showcase and promote their expertise, know-how and technologies. It establishes a further international forum for the hydrogen community to advance the discussion on the use of hydrogen and its role in the energy transition. This new event is supported by Hydrogen & Fuel Cells EUROPE, which takes place annually as part of Hannover Messe and is Europe's premier trade show for hydrogen and fuel cells in an industrial context.

The cooperation agreements signed recently by the Italian government with several other countries reinforce the peninsula's role as a natural link between the African continent and Europe. Particularly worthy of note among the projects resulting from these agreements is the South H2 Corridor, a pipeline network spanning approximately 3,300 km and designed to transport green hydrogen from Algeria and Tunisia to Central European markets via Italy. Companies from Germany, Austria, and Italy, for example, are involved in the project.

This ‘hydrogen highway’ will be integrated into the existing network of gas pipelines between North Africa and Italy, and figures among the EU’s cross-border infrastructure projects. It is planned to go live in 2030 with a transport capacity of 4 million metric tons of hydrogen per year.

As part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) focused on revitalising the economy after the pandemic crisis, € 3.64 billion were made available in Italy to bolster the supply chain. Of this amount, € 500 million have been specifically allocated for funding the development of 54 ‘Hydrogen Valleys’ across the country in regions including Trentino-Alto Adige, Lombardy, Lazio, Campania, Puglia, and Sicily. Hydrogen Valleys are ecosystems in specific geographical areas where the efficient production and use of green hydrogen in industry and transport is facilitated by the development of cutting-edge infrastructures and technologies. They are a fundamental element of Italy's new energy strategy.