With a mission to facilitate the introduction of hydrogen as an energy carrier in Sweden, the non-profit Public-Private Partnership (PPP) of Hydrogen Sweden is applying an approach based on collaboration. Industry, universities, NGO’s and local, regional and national government, are coming together to accelerate technology development and facilitate the evolution of early markets.

Although the Swedish activities in the field of hydrogen and fuel cells have been mainly research oriented, a number of demonstrations have been carried out to gain practical experiences. Today there is a growing number of commercial actors in the market, primarily SME’s.

Inspired by the scientific theories of Innovation Systems, Hydrogen Sweden is designed as a Bridging Institution, acting as a coordinator and initiator that increase knowledge and motivation among different stakeholders. It is characterized by a balanced and pragmatic approach to hydrogen as an energy carrier, applying a long term perspective. Value is added through information activities, networking events, market and technology surveys, pre-studies and demonstration projects. Examples from the portfolio of co-operating hydrogen projects cover stationary, portable and transport applications. Hydrogen Sweden is also the Swedish coordinator in the Scandinavian Hydrogen Highway Partnership. The growing number of partners recently passed 30 organisations, served by a hands-on secretariat of four fulltime employees.

Now entering its second year in operation, early learnings can be summarised and initial conclusions can be made.