The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia (SI MOD) proposed a project idea titled ‘Defence Resilience Hub Network in Europe – RESHUB’ within the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector. The project implements renewables and energy storage in hydrogen, supports the resilience of defence infrastructure as well as evolving military hydrogen mobility.
In the framework of the RESHUB project, the SI MOD is setting up a network of self-sufficient energy hubs in Slovenia. The ministry is also the holder of the initiative to create similar hubs in the EU. This opens up the possibility of connecting the defence and security sectors within Europe in the form of a ‘hydrogen highway’. It also allows the possibility of facilitating development of energy-autonomous logistic hubs to support green transport in an alliance concept of the host-nation support.
RESHUB is a pan-European project providing off-grid capacities in support of defence installations on the EU territory. Its contribution will become apparent in the reduction of energy dependence on external resources and in the use of renewable energy sources in the MOD infrastructure. The outcomes of the project include support of a robust energy supply through off-grid sources and energy storage, assistance in building an industry foundation based on renewables, and support for the introduction of electric and hybrid mobility.
The network of hubs comprises renewable energy sources, energy conversion and storage of energy in the form of hydrogen, as well as production of heat and electricity, incorporating fuel cells and electric and hydrogen charging stations. The hubs, which are set up in military bases or barracks, can ensure self-sufficiency and autonomy for several days and support for both military and civil electric and hybrid mobility.
The RESHUB Network brings several tangible and innovative solutions to the EU defence sector: it foresees a wider use of military land for energy harvesting; building energy-efficient and robust grid and off-grid systems; enabling energy storage on site; providing smart micro grids. It is pioneering in the sense of implementing hydrogen as an energy storage medium, and implementing widespread use of electrical transport systems.
The project enables citizens access to defence energy infrastructure and sources. It assures better cooperation on local, regional, national, international and cross-sectorial domains. For the first time it proves that the EU and national funding schemes can be accessed, and implements public–private partnerships.