The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has allocated €439.4 million from the Auction-as-a-Service (AaaS) mechanism to finance renewable hydrogen production for three projects located in Andalusia and Castilla-La Mancha, as can be seen here . The beneficiary initiatives have a combined electrolysis capacity of 250 MW and were selected in the third general auction of the European Hydrogen Bank (IF25), but were excluded from Brussels funding because they exceeded the allocated EU budget.
This distribution of subsidies exhausts the €440 million budget allocated by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) through the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) for the second national call for Energy as a Service (AaaS) auctions. Thanks to this mechanism, directly linked to BEH bids, Spain is using its own funds from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) to fund these three projects, shortlisted last week by the European Commission according to the scoring order established by the European Union's Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Two of them will be located in the province of Huelva and the third in the province of Albacete.
| Project | Beneficiary | Location | Electrolysis Capacity (MW) | Aid Requested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOON II | Iberdrola Clientes | Palos de la Frontera, Huelva | 80 | €139,380,486.66 |
| ODIN | Iberdrola Clientes | Huelva, Huelva | 140 | €249,769,832.09 |
| QUIXOTGEN | Doña Urraca Energy | Villarrobledo, Albacete | 30 | €50,216,284.00 |
With the publication of the Agreement of the Investigating Body establishing the list of national projects selected by CINEA, by the IDAE as the investigating body, the period of 21 calendar days begins for both these three projects formally transferred by the European Hydrogen Bank to the Spanish auction mechanism as services, as well as the rest of the Spanish projects that are on the reserve list of the “Innovation Fund IF25 Auction” to provide the required documentation, including the guarantee of participation and execution of the project.
The incentives for auctions as a service are structured as subsidies for hydrogen produced and certified as 100% renewable –RFNBO, according to the Renewable Energy Directive–, for a maximum period of 10 years from the start of operation, in projects that respect the principle of not causing significant damage to the environment (DNSH) in all their phases.
In the first Spanish auction as a service, three other Spanish projects transferred from the general mechanism of the European Hydrogen Bank were beneficiaries: 'Orange-Bat' by SmartEnergy, in Onda (Castellón); 'ELYSENeM-Numancia' in Garray (Soria) and 'ACCIONA PLUG Valle H2V NAVARRA' in the Navarrese town of Sangüesa, with a total of 220.02 million euros in incentives charged to NextGenEU funds of the Recovery Plan (PRTR).
Renewable H2, a national commitment
This new national auction is part of the Government's commitment to renewable hydrogen as a key factor in eliminating CO2 emissions from industry, heavy transport and other sectors that are difficult to decarbonize, and is consistent with the development of the PERTE for Renewable Energies, Hydrogen and Storage (ERHA).
To date, IDAE has granted aid to 'green' hydrogen projects totaling €2.814 billion, through programs such as H2 Pioneers, H2 Value Chain, H2 Valleys, and several waves of IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) launched by Brussels, in addition to the first auction as a service. In total, almost €3 billion of the PRTR funds and the Addendum have been allocated to green hydrogen, a key component in the decarbonization process and the creation of a comprehensive associated technological and industrial ecosystem, as outlined in the Renewable Hydrogen Roadmap and the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC).