The sun was shining and the energy was high as members of the FreeHydroCells consortium gathered in Cork – in-person and online – for the latest General Assembly on 22nd – 23rd September 2025, hosted by University College Cork (UCC) and UCC Academy.
Partners from across Europe came together to exchange knowledge, share progress, and strengthen the partnerships driving our shared mission: transforming solar energy into clean hydrogen to power a sustainable global energy future.
Day 1 – A Warm Welcome and Knowledge Sharing
The assembly opened with a vibrant day of collaboration, featuring focused sessions led by consortium members on interrelationship activities and key challenges within the project. The discussions concluded with an overview of the project management updates – including upcoming milestones, deliverables, and timelines. The atmosphere was filled with ideas, discussion, and a collective drive to push the project forward.
A special thank you goes to Professor Brian Ó Gallachóir, Associate Vice-President of Sustainability at UCC, Director of UCC Futures Sustainability, and Director of UCC’s Environmental Research Institute (now known as the Sustainability Institute), for joining us to welcome the consortium to the UCC campus and highlighting University College Cork’s commitment to sustainability and innovation.
Day 2 – Technical Achievements and Future Goals
The second day took a deeper look at FreeHydroCells’ progress toward a fully functional photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar-to-hydrogen (STH) system, with discussions on critical topics such as improving STH efficiency in PEC cells, scaling up from cell to system, and strategies to maximise overall system performance. The day wrapped up with an ‘Impact Committee’ meeting, which sparked discussions on next steps and opportunities to drive continued innovation.
Building Connections Beyond the Meetings
In addition to formal sessions, the assembly provided valuable opportunities to strengthen relationships across the consortium. From networking lunches to an evening project dinner, and even a guided walking tour of historic Cork city, members enjoyed time to connect, share insights, and celebrate the collaborative spirit of FreeHydroCells.
Summarising…
The General Assembly centred on the exciting technical progress achieved by partners to date. Presentations highlighted significant milestones and breakthroughs that are helping advance FreeHydroCells’ mission of converting solar energy into green hydrogen fuel at scale. Discussions not only showcased the consortium’s achievements but also inspired conversations around advancing the project significantly towards the end of project objectives.
Lead PI and Project Coordinator, Dr Ailbe Ó Manacháin, UCC, summed up the event: “By coming together as a General Assembly at this pivotal juncture, we can really take stock of the incredible achievements in the project to date, most of which remain confidential at this intermediate stage. We have a clear strategy going forward on how to solve the remaining bottleneck challenges, and although significant and difficult, we will work very closely as a consortium to do our very best to overcome the hurdles to take the technology forward to our end objective of a novel, low-cost, sustainable green hydrogen production technology platform with a high STH system efficiency, durability and rapid impact”.
Watch the highlights of the General Assembly in this short video:
The Cork General Assembly reaffirmed the consortium’s commitment to advancing renewable energy solutions and demonstrated how teamwork across borders can drive meaningful change. With every milestone, FreeHydroCells moves closer to making green hydrogen a viable and scalable energy source for the world.