H2Business helps energy-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises explore hydrogen, hydrogen carriers, and other sustainability pathways.
How can hydrogen be made both practical and cost-effective for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? That is the central question of the H2Business (H2B) project. H2B aims to help energy-intensive SMEs in the Netherlands and Germany make the transition to sustainable energy solutions based on hydrogen.
H2Business (H2B) aims to help energy-intensive SMEs in the Netherlands and Germany make the transition to sustainable energy solutions based on hydrogen. The project focuses on accelerating the adoption of green hydrogen, whilst recognising that green hydrogen produced by electrolysis is not technically or economically feasible for every business. That is why H2B is also investigating applications of low-carbon hydrogen and hydrogen carriers such as methanol, biogas and LOHCs. Together, these energy carriers form a flexible and viable transition pathway towards fossil-free business operations.
Through H2B, the project partners aim to make the opportunities offered by hydrogen technology tangible and accessible to SMEs. The focus is not on developing new technologies, but on adapting, validating and applying existing solutions in practice. In this way, the project helps businesses make informed choices about their future energy supply and contributes to a more innovative and sustainable Dutch-German border region.
H2B focuses on energy-intensive SMEs facing challenges such as rising energy costs, grid congestion and increasing pressure to become more sustainable. These include companies in the agriculture, chemicals, food, logistics, waste processing and building materials sectors. For many of these businesses, full electrification is not feasible, or they lack the option to connect to future hydrogen infrastructure. Hydrogen and hydrogen carriers can therefore play an important role in the energy transition.
H2B helps SMEs, step by step, to explore, test and implement hydrogen technology. The focus is not on the technology itself, but on how it can contribute in practice to future-proof business operations. That is why H2B employs a modular, three-phase approach.
In the first phase, Dutch and German universities of applied sciences, in collaboration with businesses, will carry out a technical and economic feasibility study. This will build on existing knowledge and experience gained from previous projects, such as De Groene Waterstofbooster and HySucces. The analyses will result in a company-specific roadmap and will also form the basis for the development of an open online H2B tool, which will enable other SMEs to gain insight into the opportunities offered by hydrogen within their organisations. Students play an important role in this process and gain practical experience within the energy transition.
Promising applications can then be tested in demonstration facilities or on-site. The most promising initiatives then progress to practical demonstrations, in which scalability, system integration and technical and organisational barriers are validated in a realistic operational environment.
With this approach, H2B lowers the barrier to innovation. The technology is often already available, but for many companies the step towards practical application still proves to be a significant one. H2B helps to bridge that gap by making knowledge, expertise and testing facilities accessible, and by supporting companies in developing a viable business case.
The hydrogen transition does not stop at the national border. That is why H2B brings together companies, research institutions and regional development agencies from the Dutch-German border region. Cross-border cooperation links knowledge, test facilities, value chains and markets. At the same time, this collaboration helps to better bridge differences in policy and regulation. This creates a stronger hydrogen ecosystem in which innovation can be developed, tested and implemented more quickly.
Within H2Business, Entrance brings together knowledge, research and practical experience. Entrance supports the technicala validation of hydrogen applications and contributes to the development of solutions that meet the needs of energy-intensive SMEs. By connecting researchers, students and businesses, Entrance helps to bring innovations from concept to practice more quickly and to accelerate the energy transition in the Dutch-German border region.
H2B contributes to a future-proof and competitive economy in the Dutch-German border region. The project strengthens the innovative capacity of SMEs, increases knowledge of hydrogen applications and helps businesses reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. Furthermore, the use of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers helps to reduce CO₂, NOx and particulate matter emissions. The knowledge gained will remain available even after the project has ended, through open-source tools, practical examples and regional investment plans for the further upscaling of hydrogen solutions.
Would you like to find out more? Please contact professor Joàn Teerling or Kirsten Nijland (Lead Partner OostNL). You can also visit the H2B website.
H2B is an Interreg Germany–Netherlands project, which is partly funded by the European Union.
Project duration: February 2026 – September 2029
Total project budget: €5,500,000
Budget Entrance: € 444,000
Location: The Netherlands and Germany
Partners: OostNL (lead partner), Energy Hub Emsland Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, FH Münster, NOM, Saxion, Technologieförderung Münster GmbH, Westfälische Hochschule Campus Bocholt, Zentrum für Brennstoffzellen Technik GmbH, BOM Business Development & Foreign Investments B.V., Horizon B.V., IHK Nord Westfalen, Stichting New Energy Coalition, Wirtschaftsförderung Kreis Coesfeld GmbH, Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft für den Kreis Borken mbH
Themes
Renewable fuels and sustainable gases
Industrial transfromation
Involved professorships
Duurzame gassen en brandstoffen
Juridische en economische vraagstukken binnen de energietransitie
H2Business helpt energie-intensieve mkb bij het onderzoeken van waterstof, waterstofdragers en andere verduurzamingsroutes.
Hoe communiceer je overtuigend en effectief over duurzame innovaties in een samenleving waarin polarisatie, wantrouwen en desinformatie toenemen?
