Winners of first EU-wide renewable hydrogen auction sign grant agreements

The awarded funding will help successful bidders to bridge the difference between their production costs and the price that industrial users are willing to pay for this emerging product.

This auction is one of the pillars of the European Hydrogen Bank (EHB) launched by the Commission in 2023, and uses revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System to support producers of hydrogen categorised as Renewable Fuel of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO).

The selected projects are located in four European countries:Spain (Hysencia and Catalina), Portugal (Grey2green II and MP2X), Finland (eNRG Lahti), and Norway (Skiga).

The Innovation Fund will support these projects with a fixed premium payment per kg of certified and verified renewable hydrogen produced. This means that no payments will be made before projects start production. From the time of the grant agreement signature, the projects have up to five years to start producing renewable hydrogen.

The total amount of support comes to €694 521 237 and will be disbursed over a timespan of 10 years. The individual grants range from EUR 8 million to EUR 245 million for installations with a megawatt electric (MWe) capacity from 35 to 500 MWe.

Renewable hydrogen produced will serve many sectors, such as maritime, heavy duty transport, agriculture, or in the production of e-methane and e-methanol.

Altogether, the projects have the potential to produce up to 1.52 million t of renewable hydrogen during the first 10 years of their operations, avoiding more than 10 million t of CO2 emissions.

One project out of the seven that were selected to receive support from the Innovation Fund pilot auction decided to withdraw from the grant agreement process.

Drawing from the experience of this pilot auction, the Commission plans to launch the second renewable hydrogen auction via the Innovation Fund by the end of 2024, with an increased budget of €1.2 billion. Published on 27 September 2024, the Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) for the second auction set out the main elements and requirements to apply.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/08102024/winners-of-first-eu-wide-renewable-hydrogen-auction-sign-grant-agreements/