From the Alps to the Aegean – A Hydrogen Journey Linking Generations: On 30 September 2025, Austria’s last public hydrogen refuelling station, operated by OMV in Innsbruck, closed. At around the same time, Motor Oil Group inaugurated a new station in Greece. To mark these two significant events, Nikolaus Fleischhacker and his friend Yuki Gaderer travelled over 1,000 kilometres in a Hyundai Nexo Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle from the HyWest fleet of the Green Energy Center Europe, linking the past and future of Europe’s hydrogen transition.
🧭 Produced by Yuki Gaderer and Nikolaus Fleischhacker for the Green Energy Center Europe, 2025
A European Hydrogen Journey
The film Hydrogen between Hope and Hype documents this journey from Innsbruck to Athens.
On the road, Ernst Fleischhacker, founder of the Green Energy Center Europe, and Walter Huber, founder of IIT Bolzano, reflect on the challenges and lessons learned from building Central Europe’s first Hydrogen Highway — from Munich to Verona — a decade ago. Both underline that hydrogen is not just a technology, but a systemic challenge: it requires institutional integration, economic viability, and long-term collaboration beyond hype cycles.
The TRIERES Hydrogen Valley
In Greece, Petros Zorapas, Director of AVINOIL (Motor Oil Group), and Konstantinos I. Chatzifotis, TRIERES Project Coordinator and European Affairs Manager at Motor Oil, present the ambitions behind the TRIERES Hydrogen Valley Project, part of the EU’s Hydrogen Valley initiative. Their contribution highlights how the southern edge of Europe is now becoming an active player in hydrogen innovation — connecting research, industry, and infrastructure from the Mediterranean to Central Europe.
Science, Reflection, and Responsibility
Athanasios Stubos, Research Director at the National Research Center Demokritos, contrasts these developments with the situation in Austria. He raises a critical question: how can the hydrogen economy remain systemically balanced if its momentum is increasingly shaped by conventional energy interests?
His colleague, Emmanuel Stamatakis, closes the film with a reflection on ten years of collaboration between Demokritos and the Green Energy Center Europe. He underlines how family-based and intergenerational continuity can overcome institutional barriers and maintain a consistent vision for Europe’s green transition — beyond short-term crises or market fluctuations.
A Bridge Between Generations
The documentary, created by Yuki and Nikolaus Fleischhacker, represents both a physical and symbolic bridge — connecting two generations of pioneers within the European hydrogen economy.
It captures a decisive moment where technology, policy, and human responsibility intersect.
“This journey is more than a transfer of a car. It is the continuation of a mission — from the pioneers of hydrogen mobility to the builders of tomorrow’s hydrogen economy.”
— Ernst Fleischhacker
