The new hydrogen technology cluster was announced as hundreds of political and economic decision makers from around the world were meeting in the southern Polish mountain resort of Karpacz at an annual Economic Forum, state news agency PAP reported.
During the conference, in the presence of Morawiecki, representatives from 25 businesses and institutions signed a letter of intent for the establishment of the Lower Silesian Hydrogen Valley in Poland's southwestern Dolnośląskie province.
Signatories included companies such as Poland's state-run KGHM mining group and Toyota Manufacturing Poland, technical universities such as the Wrocław Institute of Technology, and the Dolnośląskie provincial government.
Morawiecki told those at the ceremony Poland was the world's fifth-largest producer of hydrogen and had already set up one hydrogen cluster, in its southeastern Podkarpackie region earlier this year.
"A hydrogen valley fosters links and collaboration between businesses, universities, and local governments," Morawiecki said.
He added that Poland aimed to use its own domestic resources and production capacity to become "an ever more technologically advanced state."
Morawiecki predicted hydrogen could in the future prove "no less revolutionary" than shale oil and shale gas.
"Over the coming decades, hydrogen, which is the lightest of the elements, will play a gigantic role in the technological transformation of the world," he said.
He reiterated an earlier announcement that the government would establish a total of five hydrogen clusters nationwide "to draw on the expertise of Polish engineers, technicians, technologists and project managers."
Morawiecki told the conference the new clusters "will contribute to energy transformation and economic growth, as well as help lift the Polish economy to a higher level of technological development."
Meanwhile, Climate and Environment Minister Michał Kurtyka announced that this autumn the government would unveil "fundamental new regulations for the growth of the Polish hydrogen industry."
The Economic Forum in Karpacz, dubbed the "Polish Davos," is a three-day annual conference that was previously held in Krynica, another mountain resort in southern Poland.
This year, more than 3,500 guests from around the world have converged on Karpacz, including senior politicians, parliamentarians, business executives and culture leaders.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, IAR