The Pilot Project of Unioncamere del Veneto within the Interreg Central Europe 2021–2027 Project “H2CE”
The European energy transition requires innovative tools to support public authorities in strategic decisions related to decarbonisation. In this context, the European project “H2CE – Hydrogen Central Europe”, funded by the Interreg Central Europe Programme 2021–2027, was launched.
The project aims to strengthen the role of public authorities in the development of the hydrogen economy by providing skills, operational tools and planning models to accelerate the integration of renewable energy sources and the deployment of hydrogen-ready infrastructure at territorial level.
So far, many hydrogen initiatives have mainly focused on the needs of industry and individual economic operators. Less attention has been given to the needs of public administrations for operational tools to analyse scenarios, plan investments and effectively guide energy policies. H2CE was created to fill this gap by developing methodologies and digital platforms specifically designed for public decision-makers. At the same time, the project promotes the creation of a transnational energy network, encouraging the exchange of knowledge, good practices and governance models.
Within the project, Unioncamere del Veneto, as Project Partner, plays a key role by developing an innovative pilot project: a digital GIS (Geographic Information System) platform designed as a real decision-support tool. The platform supports regional authorities in planning the transition to hydrogen by providing a solid analytical basis to guide strategies, investments and infrastructure choices.
For the first time, the platform offers a comprehensive and integrated mapping of energy consumption in the Veneto Region. The mapping is based on the aggregation of data from public statistical sources, regional open data and, in particular, from the information assets of the Chamber of Commerce system. Unioncamere del Veneto enhanced its databases and its consolidated statistical survey network within the “Veneto Congiuntura” initiative, including a specific analysis of energy consumption by companies in the region.
The reconstructed data are spatially represented and divided by sector — industry, transport, residential and agriculture — allowing the identification of areas with the highest energy demand and where hydrogen conversion could be more strategic and effective.
The most innovative element of the platform is the possibility to simulate different energy transition policies. Through an interactive dashboard, public decision-makers can set different levels of hydrogen conversion for each economic sector and assess in real time the effects of their choices. The system automatically updates both the geographic visualisation and the quantitative indicators. It estimates fossil fuel savings, CO₂ emission reductions and the hydrogen demand required to implement the selected policies.
This approach allows immediate evaluation of the impact of public decisions, reducing uncertainty and strengthening infrastructure investment planning.
The added value of the tool lies in its capacity to analyse and compare complex scenarios quickly, transforming large amounts of data into clear, synthetic and operational information that is easy for public authorities to interpret. The pilot project is based on flexible technologies and an open data approach, ensuring its replicability and scalability. The platform can be easily adapted to other territories or further enhanced by integrating additional datasets, thus dynamically supporting the evolution of the energy market and climate policies.
Through its methodological contribution and its ability to integrate economic and territorial data, Unioncamere del Veneto has demonstrated the strategic potential of the Chamber of Commerce system in connecting economic analysis, energy planning and public policies. The result is an innovative tool that moves beyond purely theoretical planning and provides a concrete, measurable and evidence-based assessment of the impacts related to the energy transition.
In a context where energy decisions require timely action and increasingly robust data, the GIS platform developed within the H2CE project represents a decisive step towards data-driven energy governance. The tool supports informed, evidence-based decisions and contributes to a sustainable and strategically guided development of the hydrogen value chain.
The platform is available at: https://h2ce-portal.atlas.co
