The University of Galway plays a central role in SH2AMROCK as the leading institution, drawing on its extensive experience from European hydrogen projects, including GenComm, SEAFUEL, NEXSYS, HyLIGHT and Green Hysland. Building on the knowledge and outcomes of these projects, the University is helping to deliver an innovative workplan that supports the deployment of hydrogen technologies and the development of Ireland’s hydrogen sector.
Through both project coordination and technical leadership, Prof. Rory Monaghan has been a strong and consistent voice within the hydrogen community, promoting awareness of SH2AMROCK’s developments, from Texas to Galway, in national and international events and engaging with the H2valleys community in spaces such as the Hydrogen Valley Days (Article). UoG is also responsible for assessing the socio-economic and environmental impacts of the project, developing business models, and conducting studies on the commercial viability and operational aspects of hydrogen transport. Through focus group discussions and an interactive card-based exercise, Asif Khan & Thomas Van Rensburg are examining how local communities in Galway perceive green hydrogen and the infrastructure required to support it. During the completed exercise, participants considered how additional renewable-energy and hydrogen infrastructure could affect daily life, employment and training opportunities, the role of communities and local authorities, energy security, changes in electricity prices, and the longer-term contribution of green hydrogen to regional development. Pau Farràs and his research group highlight how hydrogen innovation is underway in Ireland to support the development of hydrogen as a low-carbon energy option.
Guided by its commitment to sustainability and climate action, the University of Galway continues to build on its position as one of Europe’s leading hydrogen research institutions, contributing expertise that will support Ireland’s transition to a more sustainable energy future.
SH2AMROCK’s new project manager!
The coordination team at the University of Galway is expanding, and we are pleased to formally introduce our Project Manager, Dr Luis Miguel Blanes Restoy.
Luis Miguel trained as an architect at the Universidad de Sevilla and spent the first part of his career delivering built infrastructure. Between 2001 and 2005, he worked as Architect Project Manager on residential developments for Grupo Inmobiliario La Quinta, part of Grupo Leche Pascual, delivering nearly 400 units across several developments. From 2005 to 2009, he moved to Técnicas Reunidas S.A., one of the world’s top 10 EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contractors, where he managed the construction of a mixed-use complex, swimming pool facilities and an underground car park in Madrid.
SH2AMROCK involves building physical infrastructure: an electrolyser, a refuelling station, and a multi-modal transport hub at Galway Port. Luis Miguel’s experience with capital works and contractor coordination applies directly to that part of the project.
Since 2011, he has worked at the University of Galway, managing Horizon 2020 and FP7 projects including CASCADE, HIT2GAP, GEOFIT, SINERGY and DE-RISK, focusing on building energy systems, energy communities, and geothermal heat pump technology. Several of these involved coordinating construction works and procurement, including GEOFIT, where he managed planning, tendering and construction packages for a geothermal heat pump installation. He has also served as an expert monitor reviewer for CINEA and is an appointed IEA expert on heat pumps for non-domestic buildings.
For Luis Miguel, SH2AMROCK sits at a different stage to the projects he has worked on before: Ireland does not yet have a hydrogen value chain, so the project has to build one from scratch- production, distribution, and offtake- at the same time as the funding streams, safety standards, and regulatory framework around hydrogen are still being defined. That combination of physical construction and unsettled regulation is the main challenge he expects to manage.
Galway’s position on the TEN-T network, and its role as a port and logistics point, are part of what makes it a workable location for a hydrogen transport hub, one of the reasons the project is based here. Beyond the logistics, Luis Miguel points to Galway’s concentration of research and industrial activity as a place where a project like this one can actually get built.