The Minister of Climate and Environment, Michał Kurtyka, pointed out that Poland was the first country in the European Union to conclude a sectoral agreement on the development of hydrogen economy, after the announcement of the "Hydrogen Strategy for a climate-neutral Europe" by the European Commission in July 2020.

- Today's event gives me personal satisfaction, because around the Ministry which I lead, initiatives are being created which bring together many institutions and companies which are united around a common goal, which is the economic development of Poland based on modern technologies. This is also another proof that Poland is in the European vanguard of energy transformation – he said.

As the head of the Ministry for Climate and Environment emphasised, Poland must direct the new impulse for economic development into tracks that will allow it to participate in the civilisational challenge of achieving climate neutrality. He added that one of its important elements will be the use of hydrogen technologies.

- Poland is actively involved in the process of creating a value chain for low-emission hydrogen technologies. We are the fifth hydrogen producer in the world and the third in the European Union. This is both a challenge associated with the decarbonisation of this production and a development opportunity. We have the right industrial base, but what is equally important - hundreds of qualified people who are ready to work in this sector – Kurtyka pointed out.

According to Minister Kurtyka, the development of the hydrogen economy is a result of a conscious government policy, which aims not only at building an advantage for Polish entrepreneurs, creating many thousands of well-paid jobs, but above all, at improving the quality of life of citizens.

- One of the ways to achieve this goal is through the creation of Hydrogen Valleys, which will be established in successive regions of Poland. Their aim is to integrate entities from various sectors, which will create a network of connections serving the development of the hydrogen economy value chain – he said.

The Industrial Development Agency is involved in the creation of all hydrogen valleys.

- It is very important for us to provide as much green energy as possible to investors in the area of modern technologies, whom we encourage to locate their companies in special economic zones managed by us. The European Green Deal will require the commitment of large financial resources in a short period of time. We want to prepare a comprehensive instrument which will make it possible to finance, among other things, the energy transformation for selected entities or local government units. We are also interested in investing in the development of innovative energy generation technologies as there are companies in our capital group which manufacture zero-emission means of transport – emphasizes Cezariusz Lesisz, President of IDA JSC.

Popularization of hydrogen is also a key initiative which is a part of the "Polish Hydrogen Strategy until 2030 with an Outlook until 2040", which was prepared by the Ministry of Climate and Environment and which will be adopted by the Council of Ministers within the next few weeks.

As the Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment Ireneusz Zyska pointed out, the "Sectoral Agreement for the Development of the Hydrogen Economy" is an example of excellent cooperation between government administration, local government units, representatives of entrepreneurs, the scientific community and business environment units.

"The agreement will be joined today by 138 entities representing various sectors of the economy in which production, transmission, storage and application of hydrogen will play an important role in the future. In particular, we are talking about transport, energy, heating and industry," – he noted.

Deputy Minister Zyska stressed that the strategic goal of the agreement is to maximise the Polish contribution ("local content") in the chain of realisation of orders for the construction of the hydrogen economy.

"The highest possible participation in the supply chain of Polish entrepreneurs and Polish technical thought and Polish patents will be of key importance for maintaining the competitiveness of our economy, decarbonisation of the most energy-intensive sectors and effective competition in the economic field with other countries, which have also recognised the huge potential of hydrogen" – he explained.

Government Plenipotentiary for Renewable Energy Sources Ireneusz Zyska also informed that an ambitious "local content" indicator at the level of no less than 50% of the total value in 2030 has been written into the agreement. The added value for the Polish economy due to the achievement of this indicator is estimated at between EUR 343 and 870 million.

Deputy Minister Zyska also pointed out that the initiative to conclude the agreement was entirely grassroots and voluntary, and the market's interest was enormous.