As the leader of Task 8.2 within the Working Package 8 “Policy analysis and guidelines” of the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley (NAHV) project, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region, with the technical support of Bureau Veritas Nexta and the European House Ambrosetti, created a valuable opportunity for the development of the Italian hydrogen economy by convening national stakeholders active in the sector through two dedicated working roundtables.
The two Round Tables—respectively involving Italian private stakeholders and public institutions and regulators—were designed as structured forums for fostering dialogue and exchange, with the objective of identifying regulatory barriers and gaps perceived as hindering the sector development and thereby defining key themes of interest for the development of regulatory sandboxes.
The first Roundtable, held in Trieste on 16th March 2026, brought together 61 stakeholders, including 26 companies involved along the entire hydrogen value chain, 5 research and innovation organisations and 2 industry associations. Among the different regulatory barriers and gaps discussed during the event and perceived as most critical along the hydrogen value chain are permitting procedures, fire prevention requirements, guarantees of origin, hydrogen blending into existing gas pipelines and end‑use applications. Participants stressed that current regulatory frameworks are often designed for large and standardised installations, while hydrogen development is likely to rely on modular and small scale solution or research laboratory features having also limited timeline for testing. The open discussion provided key evidence to support the design of sandbox initiatives grounded in real operational needs.
Building on these contributions, on 15th April 2026 the Region convened a second Roundtable specifically involving national institutions and regulatory authorities and, including representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE), the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT), the Fire Brigade, Public Rescue and Civil Defence (VVFF), the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment (ARERA), the Energy Services Manager (GSE). This event enabled a first debate on the main outcomes emerging from the first Italian roundtable and the parallel similar events taken place in Croatia and Slovenia.
The results gained from the e private stakeholder consultations constitute the basis for the next phase of policy dialogue and coordination among NAHV partners for the definition of regulatory sandboxes proposals across the three territories and establishing a concrete cross‑border coordination framework also capable of enabling the exchange of 20% of the hydrogen produced within the NAHV.
In this perspective, the experience under NAHV is expected to contribute not only to the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley, but also to wider discussions at national and EU level on enabling regulation for the European hydrogen economy.