Elcogen hosts visit from European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera
Elcogen welcomed European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera to its solid oxide fuel cell manufacturing facility near Tallinn, Estonia, on Monday June 8, 2026. Hosted by Elcogen Founder and CEO, Enn Õunpuu, Ribera toured the manufacturing facility, which opened in September 2025 and is among Europe’s most advanced production sites for solid oxide fuel cell and electrolysis technologies.
As Executive Vice President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Ribera leads the European Commission’s work to accelerate Europe’s decarbonisation while strengthening industrial competitiveness, energy security and the deployment of clean technologies across the continent. Her portfolio focuses on aligning climate objectives with economic resilience and scaling strategic clean energy industries.
The visit comes as the European Union’s Green Deal and competitiveness agenda converge with an increasingly urgent constraint in the form of limited grid capacity. As electrification accelerates and demand increases from industry, data centres and clean manufacturing, Europe faces growing pressure to deliver reliable, affordable and low-carbon energy without overloading existing grid infrastructure.
Discussions between Ribera and Õunpuu focused on the role solid oxide fuel cell technology can play in addressing these challenges. Designed to deliver highly efficient, low- to zero- carbon baseload power, solid oxide fuel cell-based systems can integrate with renewable energy sources, energy storage solutions and grid services, supporting more flexible and resilient energy systems.
The discussion also highlighted the dual functionality of Elcogen’s technology. When operated in reverse as solid oxide electrolysers, the same technology can produce affordable green hydrogen, supporting the development of Europe’s hydrogen economy and contributing to the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors such as steel and chemical refining. This aligns with the clean-tech objectives at the heart of Ribera’s mandate.
The visit provided an opportunity to exchange views on how European innovation and advanced manufacturing can support the European Union’s objectives for competitiveness, energy resilience and climate neutrality. Ribera and Õunpuu also discussed the importance of ensuring that sufficient public and private funding is available to help scale up strategic clean technologies and strengthen Europe’s industrial base.
Enn Õunpuu, Founder and CEO of Elcogen, shares:
If Europe is serious about building a competitive hydrogen economy, it must also invest in the technologies that make it possible.
” Today, much of the global manufacturing capacity for key hydrogen technologies is located outside Europe. By supporting home-grown innovation and scaling European production, the EU can strengthen its energy security, create industrial value within Europe, and reduce strategic dependencies while accelerating the clean transition,”
READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central
Elcogen hosts visit from European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera, source
