Conference on the Hydrogen Mobility Ecosystem

On June 15, 2025, TOMARK PROTON hosted an inaugural project conference focused on communicating the key milestones of the IPCEI H2 VTOL project.
The international conference centered on the implementation process and spill-over effects in the medium- and long-term direction of the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) titled H2 VTOL, which addresses a hydrogen-powered vertical take-off and landing aircraft, including hydrogen storage systems.

The event was attended by project partners, academics, representatives of institutions from both the public and private sectors, as well as experts and the general public. The conference opened with a keynote address from Mrs. Katarína Augustini, Director General of the Strategy Section at the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic. She was followed by Prof. Ing. Juraj Sinay, DrSc., advisor to the State Secretary for Hydrogen Technologies. Martin Sedlák, the IPCEI Project Manager, welcomed nearly a hundred guests and provided an update on the project’s initial phase, which is primarily focused on identifying technologically, financially, and time-feasible concepts for a hydrogen-powered VTOL aircraft.

A development plan for hydrogen high-pressure tanks was also presented, elaborated on later by German expert Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Ritter, who revealed that preliminary calculations indicate the possibility of improving gravimetric efficiency from the standard 6–7% to an ambitious 10%.

Throughout the series of lectures, research team members presented all key aspects of the project — from technological readiness levels, risks, safety requirements, and legislation, to artificial intelligence, flight control systems, and propulsion architecture — concluding with a forward-looking vision of the hydrogen mobility ecosystem.

In the final panel discussion, Dr. Júlia Kotulová, PhD. from the Earth Science Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences delivered a compelling speech emphasizing the ecological and economic potential of white geological hydrogen, both domestically and internationally.